The 
NewCentury 

Bible 


Prophets  0 


Division 
Sectioa 


^^ 


THE   NEW-CENTURY   BIBLE 


THE   MINOR  PROPHETS 

NAHUNr,  HABAKKUK,   ZEPHANIAH 
HAGGAI,  ZECHARIAH,  MALACHI 


THE  NEW-CENTURY  BIBLE. 

NEW   TESTAMENT. 

1.  MATTHEW,  by  Prof.  W.  F.  Slater,  M.A. 

2.  MARK,  by  the  late  Principal  Salmond,  D.D, 

3.  LUKE,  by  Principal  W.  F.  Adeney,  M.A.,  D.D. 

4.  JOHN,  by  the  Rev.  J.  A.  McClymont,  D.D. 

5.  ACTS,  by  Prof.  J.  Vermon  Bartlet,  M.A.,  D.D. 

6.  ROMANS,  by  the  Rev.  A.  E.  Gar  VIE,  M.A.,  D.D, 

7.  I  AND  II  CORINTHIANS,  by  Prof.  J .  Massie,  M.A.,  D.D. 

8.  EPHESIANS,    COLOSSIANS,    PHILEMON,    PHILIP- 

PIANS,  by  the  Rev.G.  CuRRiE  Martin,  M.A.,  B.D, 

9.  I  AND  II  THESSALONIANS,  GALATIANS,  by  Principal 

W.  F.  Adeney,  M.A.,  D.D. 
10.  THE  PASTORAL  EPISTLES,  by  the  Rev.  R.  F.  HoRTON, 

M.A.,  D.D. 
n.  HEBREWS,  by  Prof.  A.  S.  Peake,  M.A. 

12.  THE  GENERAL  EPISTLES,  by  Prof.  W.  H.  BENNETT, 

Litt.D.,  D.D. 

13.  REVELATION,  by  the  Rev.  C.  ANDERSON  ScOTT,  M.A. 


OLD  TESTAMENT. 
GENESIS,  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  W.  H.  Bennett,  Litt.D.,  D.D. 
JUDGES  AND  RUTH,  by  the  Rev.  G.  W.  Thatcher,  M.A., 

B.D. 
I  AND  II  SAMUEL,  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  A.  R.   S.  Kennedy, 

M.A.,  D.D. 
I  AMD  II  KINGS,  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  Skinner,  D.D. 
JOB,  by  Prof.  A.  S.  Peake,  M.A. 
PSALMS  (Vol.  I)  I  TO  LXXII,  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  Davison, 

M.A.,  D.D. 
PSALMS   (Vol.    II)    LXXIII    TO    END,    by   the   Rev.   Prof. 

T.  WiTTON  Davies,  B.A.,  Ph.D. 
ISAIAH  (Vol.  I)  I  TO  XXXIX,  by  the  Rev.  OWEN  C. WhiTEHOUSE, 

M.A.,  D.D. 
MINOR  PROPHETS:  HosEA,  Joel,  Amos,  Obadiah,  Jonah, 

MiCAH,  by  the  Rev.  R.  F.  HoRTON,  M.A.,  D.D. 
MINOR    PROPHETS :     Nahum,    Habakkuk,    Zephaniah, 

Haggai,  Zechariah,  Malachi,  by  the  Rev.  Canon  Driver, 

Litt.D.,  D.D. 


General  Editor  : 
Prin(  Walter  F.  Adeney,  M.A.,  D.D. 


NTRODUCTIONS 

REVIS    D  VERSION  WITH    NOTES 

INDEX  AND   MAP 


i      ITED   BY 

REV.  S.  R.  DRIVER,  D.D.,  Litt.D. 

j       TiE'MV         K       ESSOR    OF   HEBREW 

a\     cano.;     ?      iRisT  CHURCH,   oxFORji— — ;rz 

FELLOV  T  ,E  BRITISH  ACAVEWT^f^'^^^      CT     Pu/^ 


*     JAN    3  1910 


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'>^^ 


[VYORK:   HENRY  FROWDE 

OXFORD  UNIVERSITY   PRESS,  AMERICAN   BRANCH 

i.DliBURGH:  T.  C.  &  E.  C.  JACK 
\  1906 


^- 


i; 


The  Revised  Version  is  printed  by  p^.hii 
Universities  of  Oxford  and  d  ' 


ston  c 
idgi 


OXFORD:    HORACE  MART 
PRINTER  TO  THE  UtUVKRSITV 


PREFACE 

The  aim  of  the  present  Commentary  is  to  explain 
the  prophets,  whose  writings  it  embraces,  in  the  light 
of  history,  to  make  their  words  intelligible  to  modern 
readers,  so  far  as  our  knowledge  enables  us  to  do  so, 
in  the  sense  which  they  conveyed  to  those  who  first 
heard  or  read  them.  This  I  understand  to  be  the 
primary  duty  of  a  Commentary  on  the  poetical  or 
prophetical  writings  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  to  be 
the  intention  of  the  volumes  in  the  present  series. 
The  gifted  men  of  old  who  spake,  'being  borne 
along  by  the  Holy  Ghost,'  were,  each  and  all,  the 
children  of  their  own  times  :  each  had  his  own  distinc- 
tive individuality,  but  each,  as  he  spoke  or  wrote, 
had  his  eye  steadily  fixed  on  the  questions  of  national 
interest  prominent  at  the  time,  on  the  social,  moral, 
or  religious  needs  of  his  fellow  countrymen,  on 
contemporary  political  movements  in  the  world  out- 
side; each  either  judged  the  present,  or  looked  out 
into  the  future,  from  the  standpoint  of  his  own  age. 
Neither  the  prophets'  judgements  on  their  con- 
temporaries, nor  the  great  ideals  which  they  project 
upon  the  future,  can  be  rightly  understood  without 
reference  to  the  influences  under  which  they  wrote, 
the  moral  and  spiritual  atmosphere  in  which  they 
lived,  the  practical  questions  with  which  they  had  to 
deal :  and  hence  the  extreme  importance  of  ascertaining, 


vi  THE   MINOR   PROPHETS 

as  fully  as  is  possible,  the  historical  conditions  under 
which  each  prophecy  was  delivered,  and  which, — 
saving,  of  course,  the  individuality  of  the  author, — 
determined  essentially  its  character  and  scope.  I 
have  accordingly  made  it  my  endeavour  to  bring  out 
the  distinctive  historical  position  and  significance  of 
each  of  the  prophets  with  whom,  in  the  present 
volume,  I  have  had  to  deal.  Of  course,  at  the  same 
time,  the  writings  of  the  prophets  abound  in  elements 
of  permanent  value :  the  great  principles  of  religion 
and  morality  which  they  proclaim,  and  which  they  also 
make  the  basis  of  their  ideals,  are  applicable  to  all 
time.  Where  occasion  required  it,  I  hope  that  I  have 
not  been  neglectful  in  calling  attention  to  this  aspect 
of  the  prophets'  writings;  but  homiletical  or  de- 
votional reflections,  not  strictly  contained  in  the 
prophets'  words,  but  only  suggested  by  them,  or 
capable  of  being  developed  out  of  them,  I  considered 
to  lie  beyond  the  scope  of  this  Commentary.  For 
these,  references  must  be  made  to  the  larger  Com- 
mentaries of  Dr.  Pusey  and  Professor  G.  A.  Smith. 
The  former  of  these,  a  work  of  monumental  erudition, 
not  only  contains  many  valuable  notes  on  questions 
of  Hebrew  philology  and  other  departments  of 
learned  research,  but  abounds  especially  in  devotional 
and  homiletical  expansions  of  the  prophets'  thought, 
partly  the  ripened  fruit  of  the  venerable  author's  own 
long  spiritual  experience,  partly  collected  by  him,  with 
his  wonted  learning  and  industry,  from  the  stores 
accumulated  by  the  piety  of  older  divines.  Professor 
Smith's  work,  wliich  is  written  from  a  more  modern 


PREFACE  vii 

point  of  view,  while  doing  full  justice  to  the  claims  of 
critical  and  historical  exegesis,  displays  warm  sympathy 
with  the  prophets'  spirit,  and  contains  many  fresh  and 
suggestive  applications  adapted  to  the  circumstances 
of  the  present  day.  The  two  most  recent  exegetical 
Commentaries  on  the  Minor  Prophets,  to  both  of 
which  I  must  acknowledge  my  obligations,  are  those 
by  Nowack  and  Marti;  and  the  reader  who  desires 
further  information  upon  difficult  points  of  criticism 
and  exegesis  must,  in  addition  to  Professor  Smith's 
volumes,  consult  these,  without  at  the  same  time 
forgetting  the  older,  but  still  very  often  useful.  Com- 
mentary of  C.  F.  Keil.  Wellhausen's  Die  kleinen 
Propheten^  though  not  a  complete  Commentary,  is 
marked  by  its  author's  usual  insight  and  cleverness, 
and  is  a  valuable  contribution  to  the  exegesis  of  the 
Minor  Prophets.  On  Zechariah  also.  Dr.  C.  H.  H. 
Wright's  Zechariah  a?id  his  Prophecies  (the  *  Bampton 
Lectures'  for  1878),  with  critical  and  grammatical 
notes,  may  often  be  serviceably  consulted. 

The  scale  of  the  present  Commentary  has  pre- 
cluded, as  a  rule,  a  detailed  discussion  of  difficult  or 
controverted  points,  whether  of  criticism  or  exegesis  : 
I  have,  however,  wherever  possible,  endeavoured  to 
give  the  reader  an  indication  of  the  grounds  for  the 
conclusions  adopted.  The  Revised  Version,  superior 
as  it  is  in  clearness  and  accuracy  to  the  Authorized 
Version,  and  though  sufficient  as  a  rule  for  ordinary 
purposes,  not  unfrequently  contains  passages  in  which 
the  sense  of  the  original  might  be  more  closely 
expressed :  in  such  cases,  where  it  seemed  to  be  of 


X  THE    MINOR    PROPHETS 

in  a  few  cases,  to  be  probable  enough  to  deserve 
consideration.  Here  also  I  have  made  it  my 
endeavour  to  state  the  facts  in  such  a  way  that  the 
necessity,  or  probability,  of  the  proposed  emendation 
may  be  apparent  to  the  reader.  But  the  extensive 
alterations  of  text,  and  rejection  of  passages  as  later 
insertions,  assumed  by  some  modern  scholars,  partly 
on  the  ground  of  imperfect  agreement  with  the  context, 
partly  on  account  of  the  supposed  exigencies  of  metre, 
appear  to  me  to  rest  upon  an  insufficient  basis.  It 
seems  to  me  far  from  clear  that  the  Hebrew  prophets, 
mostof  whom  were  also  poets,  and  evidently  men  swayed 
often  by  emotion,  are  to  be  regarded  as  necessarily 
developing  their  thought  with  exact  logical  precision ; 
so  that, — to  say  nothing  of  the  possibility  that  their  dis- 
courses may  have  come  down  to  us  in  a  condensed 
form,  with  connecting  links  omitted, — imperfect  agree- 
ment with  the  context  appears  to  me,  except  in  extreme 
cases,  to  be  a  questionable  ground  for  suspecting  the 
originality  of  a  passage.  And  though  the  question  of 
ancient  Hebrew  metre  is  an  interesting  one,  and  well 
worthy  of  the  attention  which  has  been  recently  paid 
to  it,  it  surely  deserves  serious  consideration  whether  a 
metrical  system  which,  in  order  to  be  carried  through, 
necessitates  constant  and  often  considerable  changes  in 
the  text,  can  be  reasonably  regarded  as  the  system  actu- 
ally followed  by  the  Hebrew  poets.  Of  course  there  can 
be  no  doubt  that  the  prophets  show  a  great  tendency 
to  throw  their  discourses  into  a  rhythmical  succession 
of  parallel  clauses,  of  approximately  the  same  length, 
and  often,  in  the  same  context,  of  approximately  the 


PREFACE  xi 

same  structure,— of  three,  four,  or  five  accented  sylla- 
bles, for  instance :  the  question  is  whether  what  seems 
to  be  the  prevailing  measure  in  a  given  context  was 
adhered  to  with  such  rigidity  that  whatever  does  not 
conform  to  it  in  our  present  text  must  be  altered  or 
excised '. 

The  margins  of  the  Revised  Version  are  an  integral 
and  important  part  of  the  Revisers'  work ;  and,  except 
where  they  merely  repeat  the  discarded  renderings  of 
the  Authorized  Version,  nearly  always  contain  render- 
ings, or  readings,  superior  to  those  adopted  in  the 
text.  Hence  they  deserve  careful  attention  on  the 
part  of  any  one  using  the  version ;  for  those  which, 
in  the  estimation  of  the  best  scholars,  are  preferable  to 
the  renderings  of  the  text,  ought,  as  a  matter  of  course, 
to  be  substituted  for  the  latter,  when  the  Revised 
Version  is  read,  whether  privately  or  in  public.  Many 
readers,  however,  are  probably  often  at  a  loss  to  know 
whether  the  rendering  of  the  text  or  of  the  margin 
deserves  the  preference.  The  following  practical 
method  is  strongly  recommended.  Whatever  book  is 
being  read,  in  every  case  in  which  an  alternative 
rendering,  or  reading,  is  mentioned,  ascertain  from 
a  good  commentary  which  is  to  be  preferred ;  and  if 
the  margin  is  to  be  preferred,  draw  a  line  against  it  for 
future  use :  when  the  passage  is  read  or  referred  to 
again,  the  advantage  of  having  thus  noted  beforehand 

*  See  further  on  the  question  of  the  metrical  form  of  ancient 
Hebrew  poetry,  Budde's  art. '  Poetry  (Hebrew)  '  in  Hastings' 
Dirt,  of  the  Bible  ;  and  W.  F.  Cobb,  A  Criiidsw  of  Systems  of 
Ilebreiv  Metre  (Oxford,  1905). 


xii  THE    MINOR   PROPHETS 

the  rendering  to  be  preferred  will  soon  be  apparent. 
Naturally,  a  few  difficult  or  ambiguous  passages  will 
remain  in  which  a  decision  may  be  difficult  or  im- 
possible. In  the  present  volume  I  have  been  careful, 
as  far  as  was  possible,  to  indicate  the  renderings  to  be 
preferred.  May  I  in  conclusion  invite  the  reader's 
attention  to  what  I  have  said  more  fully  on  the 
importance  of  the  margins  of  the  Revised  Version  in 
the  Introduction  to  my  recently  published  Book  of  Job 
in  the  Revised  Version  with  Introductions  and  brief 
Annotations  (Oxford,  1906),  pp.  xxiv-xxxiii? 

S.  R.  DRIVER. 
Christ  Church,  Oxford. 
February  24,  1906. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Preface          v 

Principal  Abbreviations  employed     ....  xiv 

Chronological  Table ^         .  xvi 

NAHUM 

Introduction 3 

Plan  of  Nineveh 16 

Text  of  the  Revised  Version  and  Annotations        .  17 

HABAKKUK 

Introduction          .        . 49 

Text  of  the  Revised  Version  and  Annotations        .  65 
Additional  note  on    Hah.   Hi  (a  stonit  in   the   Sinaiiic 

Peninsula) 99 

ZEPHANIAH 

Introduction 103 

Text  of  the  Revised  Version  and  Annotations        .  in 

HAGGAI 

Introduction 145 

Text  of  the  Revised  Version  and  Annotations       .  154 

ZECHARIAH  I-VIII 

Introduction 173 

Text  of  the  Revised  Version  and  Annotations        .  182 

ZECHARIAH  IX-XIV 

Introduction 227 

Text  of  the  Revised  Version  and  Annotations       .  236 

MALACHI  A 

Introduction 285 

Text  of  the  Revised  Version  and  Annotations       .  299 

Note  on  the  terms  *  Messiah  '  and  '  Messianic '         .         .  33° 

Index 331 

MAP 

Syria,  Assyria,  and  Babylonia. 


PRINCIPAL  ABBREVIATIONS   EMPLOYED 


Aq.    .     .     .     Aquila  (Greek  translator  of  the  O.T.,  of  the 

2nd  cent.  a.  d.^). 
AVm.      .     .     Margin  of  the  Authorized  Version. 
Bertholet     .     Die  Bucher  Esra  u.  Nehemia,   1902  (in  Marti's 

'  Hand-Commentar  zum  A.T.'). 
Dav.  .     .     .     A.  B.  Davidson,  Nahttm,  Habakkuk  and  Zepha- 

niah,  1896  (in  the  'Cambridge  Bible  for  Schools 

and  Colleges '}. 
DB.   .     .     .     Hastings'  Dictionary  of  the  Bible. 
EB.  .     .     .     Encyclopaedia  Biblica. 
EVV.      .     .     Enghsh  Versions  (used  in  quoting  passages  in 

which  AV.  and  RV.  agree). 
Ewald     .     .     Die  Propheten  des  alien  Bundes,  ed.  2,  1868  (trans- 
lated). 
G.-K.     .     .     Gesenius^  Hebrew  Grammar  as  enlarged  and  edited 

by  E.   Kautzsch    (translated   by   Collins  and 

Cowley.  1898). 
Halevy  ,     .J.  Halevy,  translation  of  Nahum  and  Zephaniah, 

with  notes,  in  the  Revue  Semitique,  1905. 
Hitz.,  Hi,    .     F.  Hitzig,  Die  zwolf  kleinen  Propheten^  ed.   2, 

1863  ;  ed.  3,  revised  by  H.  Steiner,  i88i. 
Jer.    .     .     .     Jerome  (346-420  A.  D.   Author  of  Commentary  on 

the  Prophets,  and  translator  of  the  '  Vulgate '). 
KA  T?    .     .     Die  Keilinschriften  tmd  das  Alte  Testament,  ed.  3 

(1902),  by  H.  Zimmern  and  H.  Winckler. 
Keil  .     .     .     C.  F.  Keil,  Biblischer  Commentar  iiber  die  zwolf 

kleinen  Propheten,  ed.  3,  1888. 
Kirkp.,  Kp.     A.  F.  Kirkpatrick,  The  Doctrine  of  the  Prophets. 
Lex.  .     .     .     Brown,  Driver,  and  Briggs,  Hebrew  and  English 

Lexicon  of  the  O.T. 
LOT.     .     .     S.  R.  Driver,  Introdl  to  the  Lit.  of  the  O.T 
KB.  .     .     .     Keilinschriftliche  Bibliothek  (transliterations  and 

translations  of  Assjrrian  and  Babylonian  texts, 

edited  by  Eb.  Schrader). 
Marti      .     .     K.  Marti,  Das  Dodekapropheton  erkldrt  (1904). 

^  Such  remains  of  his  translation  as  have  been  preserved, 
together  with  those  of  Symmachus  and  Theodotion,  are  collected 
mostly  in  Field's  edition  of  Origen's  Hexapla  (1S75). 


PRINCIPAL   ABBREVIATIONS 


XV 


Meyer    .     .     Ed.    Meyer,    Die   Entstehnng    des   Judenthums 

(i896\ 
,,     (p.  282)  H.  A.  W.  Meyer,  Commentary  on  Sf.  Matthew. 
NHB.     .     .     H.  B.  Tristram,  Natural  History  of  the  Bible. 
Now.      .     .     W.  Nowack,  Die  kleivien  Propheten  itbersetzt  u. 

erkldrt  (ed.  2,  1905). 
P    .     .     .     .     The  Priestly  sections  of  the  Pentateuch. 
Parallel  Psalter.     S.  R.  Driver,  The  Parallel  Psalter,  being  the 

Prayer-Book  Version  of  the  Psalms,  and  a  new 

Version,  arranged  on  opposite  pages,  with  an 

Introduction  and  Glossaries,  ed.  2,  1905. 
Pesh.      .     .     Peshitto  (Syriac  version  of  the  O.T.     Probably 

of  the  2nd  cent.  a.d.). 
PRE^.    .     .     Protestantische  Real-Encyklopddie,  ed.  3  (ed.  by 

Hauck). 
Pusey     .     .     E.  B.  Pusey,   The  Minor  Prophets,  with  a  Com- 
mentary explanatory  and  practical. 
RVm.     .     .     Margin  of  the  Revised  Version. 
Smith     .     .     G.  A.  Smith,  The  Book  of  the  Twelve  Prophets  {\n 

the  '  Expositor's  Bible '),  vol.  2  (1898). 
Symm.    .     .     Symmachus  (Greek  translator  of  the  O.T.,  of  the 

2nd  cent.  A.D.). 
Targ.      .     .     Targum    (ancient  Aramaic   paraphrase   of  the 

Prophets). 
Theod.   .     .     Theodotion   (Greek  translator  of  the  O.T.,  of 

the  2nd  cent.  a.d.). 
Wellh.,  We.    J.  Wellhausen,  Die  klehten  Propheten  itbersetzt  u. 

erkldrt  (ed.  3,  1898). 
Wright  .     .     C.  H.  H.  Wright,  Zechariah  and  his  Prophecies 

(1879).     (The  '  Bampton  Lectures '  for  1878.) 


In  citations,  the  letters  *  and  ^  denote  respectively  the  first 
and  second  parts  of  the  verse  cited.  Where  a  verse  consists 
of  three  or  four  clauses  (or  lines),  the  letters  ^>  **>  "t  ^  are  some- 
times used  similarly  to  denote  them. 

Letters  with  dots  under  them  (as  h,  k,  t,  z),  as  also  '  and  ', 
are  used,  where  it  seemed  worth  while  to"  do  so,  for  the  purpose 
of  distinguishing  certain  Hebrew  letters ;  but  they  have  not 
been  employed  consistently,  and  particularly  not  in  the  case  of 
familiar  proper  names. 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE 

B.C. 

705.  Sennacherib. 

698.  Manasseh. 

681.  Esarhaddon. 

670.  Esarhaddon  conquers  Egypt. 

668-625.     Asshurbanipal. 

663.  No  (Thebes)  taken  by  Asshurbanipal. 

641.  Amon. 

639.      JOSIAH. 

c.  630.     Irruption  of  Scythians  into  Western  Asia. 

625.     Nabopolassar  viceroy  in  Babylon. 

c.  625.     Zephajtiah. 

624.     First  siege  of  Nineveh  by  Nabopolassar.     ?  Nahwv. 

621.     Discovery  of  Deuteronomy.         620.     Josiah's  reform. 

c.  612.     Babylon  declared  independent  by  Nabopolassar. 

608.     Death  of  Josiah  at  Megiddo. 

608.     Jehoahaz  (3  months). 

608.     Jehoiakim. 

607.     Destruction  of  Nineveh.     ?  Nahitm. 

605.     Pharaoh  Neco  defeated  at  Carchemish  by  Nebuchadnezzar. 

605-561.     Nebuchadnezzar.         605-600.     Habokkuk. 

597.     Jehoiachin  (3  months). 

597.     Zedekiah. 

586.     Destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Chaldaeans. 

538.     Babylon  taken  by  Cyrus. 

537.     42,366  exiles  (besides  slaves)  return  under  Zerubbabel. 

536.     Foundation  of  Temple  formally  laid. 

529.     Cambyses.  522.     Gaumata  (usurper,  for  7  months). 

522.     Darius  Hystaspis. 

520.     Building  of  Temple  begun.     Haggai.     Zechariah  i-vi. 

518.     Zechariah  vii-viii. 

520.     Temple  completed. 

458.     About  1,750  exiles  return  under  Ezra. 

c.  460-50.     Malachi. 

445.     Nehemiah's  first  visit  to  Jerusalem. 

444.     Book  of  the  Law  accepted  by  the  people. 

432.     Nehemiah's  second  visit  to  Jerusalem. 

333.     Persian  empire  overthrown  by  Alexander  the  Great. 

332.     Alexander's  seven  months'  siege  of  Tyre.     'iZech.  ix-x. 

323.     Death  of  Alexander  at  Babylon. 

323-c.  300.     Wars  of  his  generals  and  successors.  ?  Zech.  ix-xiv. 

302-198.     Palestine  under  the  rule  of  the  Ptolemies. 

198.     Antiochus  the  Great  obtains  possession  of  Palestine. 

175-164.     Antiochus  Epiphanes. 


NAHUM 


INTRODUCTION 

AND 

REVISED   VERSION   WITH  ANNOTATIONS 


NAHUM 

INTRODUCTION 

§  I.  The  Person  of  Nahum. 

Respecting  the  person  of  Nahum  nothing  is  known 
beyond  the  statement  in  the  title  (i.  i)  that  he  was  an 
Elkoshite^  i.  e.  an  inhabitant  of  a  place  Elkosh,  A  village 
bearing  the  name  of  Alkush,  containing  a  tomb  which  is 
shown  as  that  of  Nahum,  exists  at  the  present  day  about 
twenty-four  miles  north  of  Kouyunjik  (the  ancient  Nin- 
eveh) * ;  but  the  tradition  connecting  this  locality  with  the 
prophet  cannot  be  traced  back  beyond  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury; and  in  all  probability  it  arose  simply  from  the  simi- 
larity of  the  name  to  that  of  the  prophet's  native  place, 
coupled  with  the  fact  that  he  prophesied  against  Nineveh. 
Another  and  more  ancient  tradition  places  Elkosh  in 
Galilee.  Jerome,  in  the  preface  to  his  Commentary  on 
Nahum,  says  that  there  was  a  small  village  in  Galilee 
called  Elkese  showing  hardly  any  traces  of  ancient  build- 
ings, but  nevertheless  known  to  the  Jews,  and  pointed  out 
to  him  by  his  guide  (*et  mihi  quoque  a  circumducente 
monstratus ').  But  though  it  is  of  course  possible  for  a 
prophet  of  Nahum's  time  to  have  lived  in  Galilee,  it  is 
not  very  probable.  A  third  tradition  makes  Nahum  a 
native  of  Judah.  In  a  book  O71  the  Lives  of  the  Pro- 
phets, attributed  (doubtfully)  to  Epiphanius,  a  native  of 

^  See  Layard's  Nineveh  and  its  Remains,  \.  233,  and  Map. 
The  •  tomb '  is  a  '  simple  plaster  box  covered  with  green  cloth, 
and  standing  at  the  upper  end  of  a  large  chamber.'  in  a  house 
of  modern  building.  The  place  is  *  held  in  great  reverence  by 
Mohammedans  and  Christians,  but  especially  by  Jews,  who 
flock  there  in  great  numbers  at  certain  seasons  ol"  the  year.' 


4  NAHUM 

Besanduke,  a  village  in  the  south-west  of  Judah,  and  sub- 
sequently (a.d.  367)  bishop  of  Salamis  in  Cyprus,  it  is 
said  of  Nahum  that  he  was  'from  Elkosh,  beyond  Beth- 
gabre,  of  the  tribe  of  Simeon  \'  Beth-gabre  is  the  place 
now  called  Beit-Jibrtn,  the  ancient  Eleutheropolis,  about 
twenty  miles  S.W.  of  Jerusalem ;  and  'beyond'  means 
presumably  S.  or  S.W.  of  Beit-Jibrin.  This  tradition  is 
decidedly  more  probable  than  either  of  the  former  ones : 
Nahum's  interests  are  in  Judah,  and  a  prophet  of  Nahum's 
time  is  much  more  likely  to  have  sprung  from  Judah  than 
from  Galilee :  but  no  place,  Elkosh,  is  at  present  known 
in  the  required  direction.  There  is,  however,  a  well  called 
Bir  el-Kaus  about  six  miles  E.  of  Beit-jibrin ;  whether 
this  be  the  place  referred  to  must  be  left  undetermined^. 

§  2.  History  of  Nahum's  Time. 

The  prophecy  of  Nahum  is  devoted  to  a  single  theme  : 
it  is  a  cry  of  exultation  over  the  impending  fall  of 
Nineveh, — and  with  it,  of  course,  of  the  Assyrian  empire, 
of  which  Nineveh  was  the  capital.  A  brief  outline  of  the 
history  of  Assyria  during  the  past  century  will  explain 
why  there  should  be  this  exultation  at  the  prospect  of 
her  fall.  In  the  days  of  Hezekiah,  Judah  had  suffered 
much  at  the  hands  of  the  Assyrians.  After  years  of  tribute, 
Hezekiah  had  at  length  revolted ;  the  sequel  was  the  ex- 
pedition of  Sennacherib  in  701  B.C.,  when  the  country 
was  overrun  by  the  Assyrian  troops,  forty-six  of  the  cities 
of  Judah  captured  by  the  enemy,  and  Jerusalem  itself 
only  rescued  from  destruction  by  a  pestilence  which  so 
crippled  the  army  of  the  Assyrian  king  as  to  oblige  him 

*  On  the  reading  of  this  passage  see  the  article  *  Nahum  '  in 
DB.  iii.  474*. 

'  A  Simeonite  Elkosh,  so  far  as  inferences  can  be  drawn  from 
the  largely  unidentified  places  enumerated  in  Josh.  xix.  2-8, 
would  naturally  be  looked  for  considerably  to  the  S.  of  Beit- 
Jibrin.  See  further,  on  this  subject,  G.  A.  Smith,  ii.  79-81  ; 
and  Budde's  article  '  Elkoshite'  in  EB. 


INTRODUCTION  S 

to  return  home  without  delay.  Sennacherib's  death,  by 
the  hand  of  his  sons,  took  place  in  68 1.  His  successor, 
Esarhaddon  (681-668),  after  various  other  successes,  in 
676  besieged  and  took  the  Phoenician  city  of  Sidon, 
carrying  off  to  Nineveh  much  treasure.  Shortly  after- 
wards, being  about  to  build  a  new  palace,  he  tells  us  how 
he  summoned  before  him  *  twenty-two  kings  of  the  land 
Hatti  (the  Hittite  land,  but  used  in  Assyrian  at  this 
time  in  a  wider  sense,  so  as  to  include  Phoenicia  and 
Palestine),  who  dwelt  by  the  sea  and  in  the  midst  of  the 
sea,'  and  commanded  them  to  furnish  him  with  materials 
for  the  purpose.  The  list  of  kings  thus  summoned  by 
him  is  headed  by  Baal  king  of  Tyre,  and  Manasseh  king 
ofjudah^  and  includes  the  kings  of  Edom,  Moab,  Gaza, 
Ashkelon,  Ashdod,  and  Cyprus.  Esarhaddon  next,  in 
670,  made  a  move  to  conquer  Egypt,  which  was  now 
under  the  rule  of  Tirhakah  (Is.  xxxvii.  9  =  2  K.  xix.  9), 
the  third  king*  of  the  twenty-fifth  (Ethiopian)  dynasty.  He 
advanced  as  far  as  Memphis,  which  quickly  fell  into  his 
hands :  he  then  proceeded  to  organize  the  country  into  an 
Assyrian  province,  installing  twenty-two  native  dependent 
rulers  over  the  twenty-two  'nomes,'  or  administrative 
districts,  into  which  it  was  already  divided.  After  con- 
ducting expeditions  into  Media,  Urartu  (the  '  Ararat '  of 
the  Bible),  and  elsewhere,  he  died  in  668,  while  on  his 
way  to  Egypt  to  quell  a  revolt  which  had  broken  out 
there. 

Esarhaddon,  before  his  death,  had  nominated  Asshur- 
banipal  his  successor  on  the  throne  of  Assyria,  but 
appointed  another  son,  Shamash-shum-ukin,  to  be  vice- 
roy of  Babylon  under  Asshurbanipal.  Asshurbanipal's 
first  step  was  to  proceed  with  the  expedition  against 
Egypt,  which  Esarhaddon  had  begun.  On  his  way 
he  received  the  homage  of  twenty-two  tributary  kings, — 


'  B. c.  694-668, — called  'king'  of  Ethiopia  in  the  passages 
quoted  (which  relate  to  b.  c.  701)  by  anticipation. 


lb  NAHUM 

mostly  the  same  as  those  mentioned  by  Esarhaddon, — 
who  also,  he  adds,  accompanied  him  with  forces  and  ships. 
Tirhakah  advanced  to  meet  him  as  far  as  Memphis, 
but  retreated  at  his  approach  to  No  (Thebes),  the  capital 
of  Upper  Egypt :  both  cities  were  entered  by  Asshur- 
banipal,  the  governors  appointed  by  Esarhaddon  were 
reinstated,  £.nd  the  authority  of  Assyria  was  re-established 
throughout  the  country.  After  Asshurbanipal's  return 
home,  however,  the  revolt  in  Egypt  broke  out  again,  under 
Turdamani  (Urd-amani),  Tirhakah's  step- son  ;  and  the 
Assyrian  king  had  to  hasten  back  in  order  to  suppress  it 
(663).  Turdamani,  being  obliged  to  evacuate  Memphis, 
retreated,  like  his  father,  to  No,  whither  Asshurbanipal 
pursued  him  :~ 

He  saw  the  approach  of  my  mighty  battle,  abandoned  No, 
and  fled  to  Kipkip.  This  city  (No)  in  its  entire  compass,  in 
reliance  upon  Asshur  and  Ishtar,  my  hands  conquered.  Silver, 
gold,  precious  stones,  the  treasure  of  his  palace,  the  whole 
that  was  there,  richly-woven  garments,  fine  horses,  men  and 
women,  two  lofty  obelisks,  2,500  talents  in  weight,  which  stood 
before  the  gate  of  the  temple,  I  removed  from  their  place,  and 
brought  them  to  Assyria.  Abundant  spoil,  beyond  reckoning, 
I  carried  away  out  of  No.  Over  Egypt  and  Cush  (Ethiopia) 
I  let  my  weapons  gleam,  and  I  established  my  might.  With 
full  hand  I  returned  in  safety  to  Nineveh,  the  city  of  my 
sovereignty. 

This  capture  of  the  ancient  and  splendid  capital  of 
Upper  Egypt  by  the  Assyrians  is  alluded  to  by  Nahum 
(iii.  8-10),  in  terms  which  show  the  profound  impression 
that  it  left  upon  men's  memories. 

After  his  successes  in  Egypt,  Asshurbanipal  received 
the  submission,  accompanied  by  rich  presents,  of  Baal, 
king  of  Tyre,  and  other  princes  of  Syria  and  Asia  Minor. 
Then,  after  a  successful  invasion  of  Man  (the  Minni  of 
Jer.  li.  27,  near  the  modern  Armenia),  Asshurbanipal 
found  himself  obliged  to  send  an  expedition  into  Elam 
(Gen.  X.  22),  a  country  on  the  E.  of  the  Tigris,  inhabited 
by  a  powerful  and  well-organized  people,  where  one 
Teumman  had  recently  usurped  the  throne.    In  connexion 


INTRODUCTION  7 

with  this  expedition  an  interesting  fact  which  throws 
light  on  Assyrian  prophecy  is  related.  On  the  eve 
of  the  campaign,  Asshurbanipal  prayed  solemnly  to  the 
goddess  Ishtar,  who  to  encourage  him  appeared  in  a 
vision  to  a  seer,  and  promised  victory  to  the  Assyrian 
arms.  Confident  of  success,  Asshurbanipal  set  out  for 
Elam,  and  pressed  on  up  to  the  walls  of  its  capital,  Susa. 
Here,  on  the  banks  of  the  Eulaeus  (the  Ulai  of  Dan. 
viii.  2),  there  was  a  decisive  battle,  in  which  the  Elam- 
ites  were  utterly  routed : — 

The  land  of  Elam  through  its  extent  I  covered,  as  when 
a  mighty  storm  approaches.  I  cut  off  the  head  of  Teumman, 
their  king,  the  rebel  who  had  plotted  evil.  Beyond  number 
I  slew  his  warriors ;  alive  in  my  hands  I  took  his  fighting 
men  ;  with  their  corpses  as  with  thorns  and  thistles  I  filled 
the  vicinity  of  Susa ;  their  blood  I  caused  to  flow  in  the 
Eulaeus  ;  its  waters  I  stained  like  wool  ^ 

After  this  defeat,  there  was  a  temporary  settlement  in 
Elam  :  but  before  long  disturbances  broke  out  again,  and 
another  campaign  was  found  necessary  by  Asshurbanipal. 
After  capturing  many  cities,  and  ravaging  the  country  on 
his  march,  Asshurbanipal  at  last  besieged  and  took  Susa. 
Then  began  '  a  work  of  pillage  which  it  would  be  difficult 
to  parallel  in  all  the  earlier  Assyrian  records.  From  the 
treasuries  were  brought  forth  the  gold  and  silver  which 
the  kings  of  Elam  had  plundered  in  raids  into  Babylonia 
and  elsewhere.  Precious  stones  and  costly  woollen  stuffs, 
chariots  and  waggons,  horses  and  animals  of  various 
kinds  were  sent  away  to  Assyria ; '  Susa  itself  was  razed 
to  the  ground ;  temples  were  broken  into,  sacred  groves 
cut  down,  sepulchres  violated ;  the  whole  country  was 
left  a  waste  ;  and  the  conqueror  boasts  that  '  the  voice  of 
men,  the  tread  of  cattle  and  sheep,  and  the  sound  of 
happy  music,'  were  no  longer  to  be  heard  in  it  ^. 

^  King  in  EB.  i.  374  ;  more  fully  Maspero,  Passing  of  the 
Empires,  pp.  404  ff. 

*  King  in  EB.  i.  375 ;  KB.  ii.  209. 


8  NAHUM 

The  above  is,  of  course,  a  very  summary  account  of 
Asshurbanipal's  principal  military  achievements  ^ :  but  it 
will  suffice,  perhaps,  to  give  the  reader  a  general  idea  of 
their  character  and  magnitude.  The  Assyrians  were 
masters  in  the  art  of  war ;  and  we  can  judge  from  the 
descriptions  of  Asshurbanipal  with  what  terrible  effect 
they  launched  themselves  against  their  weaker  neighbours. 
Almost  every  year  a  campaign  against  some  tribe  or 
people  was  being  organized  ;  and,  even  allowing  for  some 
rhetorical  embellishment  in  their  reports,  one  and  all  were 
equally  helpless  before  them  (cf.  the  striking  comparison 
in  Is.  X.  14),  they  trod  down  the  nations  like  dust,  spread 
ruin  and  carnage  through  their  lands,  plundered  their 
treasures,  treated  prisoners  with  savagery,  and  the  dead 
with  ignominy.  Asshurbanipal  in  particular  was  guilty  of 
great  barbarity  towards  the  vanquished  :  captive  prisoners 
were  shut  up  in  cages  and  exposed  to  the  gaze  of  the 
populace,  or  compelled  to  carry  in  a  procession  the  heads 
of  such  as  had  been  executed,  while  others  were  flayed 
alive  ^  We  see  also  with  what  an  iron  hand  the  Assyrians 
interposed  in  the  political  affairs  of  their  neighbours, 
*  removing  the  bounds  of  the  peoples '  (Is.  x.  13),  setting 
up  or  deposing  kings,  appointing  governors  at  their  will, 
or  exacting  tribute.  Such  a  cruel  and  tyrannical  power 
could  not  but  be  viewed  with  the  intensest  hatred  by 
every  nation  which  knew  of  it ;  and  though  Judah,  so 
far  as  appears,  had  suffered  less  from  the  Assyrians 
during  Nahum's  lifetime  than  many  other  nations,  yet 
the  Hebrew  prophet  would  know  of  course  by  report  how 

*  The  Inscriptions  of  Asshurbanipal  fill  some  seventy-five 
pages  in  KB.  ii.  (pp.  121  ff.),  and  his  campaigns  are  described 
with  much  fullness  and  graphic  detail  (cf.  Maspero,  Passing 
of  the  Empires,  pp.  381-442). 

2  Maspero,  pp.  410,  413,  415,  423,  431,  438  f.,  &c.  The 
brutality  of  Asshurbanipal  is  further  illustrated  by  a  bas-relief 
which  represents  him  and  his  queen  feasting  in  their  garden 
with  the  head  of  Teumman  hanging  from  a  tree  above  them 
(cf.  ibid.  p.  412). 


INTRODUCTION  9 

other  countries  had  been  treated  by  them ;  and,  we  may 
feel  assured,  he  does  nothing  more  than  'utter  the  un- 
doubted feeling  of  the  whole  western  world,  when  in 
speaking  of  the  ruin  of  Assyria  he  says,  "All  that  hear 
the  bruit  of  thee  clap  the  hands  over  thee ;  for  upon 
whom  hath  not  thy  wickedness  passed  continually  ? '"  ^ 

After  Asshurbanipal,  in  spite  of  the  external  brilliance 
of  his  reign,  the  power  of  Assyria  rapidly  declined.  The 
Assyrians  had  no  genius,  such  as  the  Romans  possessed, 
of  civilizing  conquered  provinces  or  of  constituting  them 
parts  of  an  organized  empire  ;  no  high  moral  ideal  inspired 
and  braced  them ;  their  authority  was  maintained  purely 
by  the  sword,  and  as  soon  as  there  was  no  strong  hand  to 
wield  the  sword,  they  speedily  fell  a  prey  to  jealous  or 
ambitious  neighbours,  and  their  empire  broke  up. 
Asshurbanipal  was  succeeded  by  Asshur-etil-ilani  {626- 
c.  620),  and  Asshur-etil-ilani  by  Sin-shar-ishkun,  the 
Saracos  of  the  Greeks  [c.  620-607)  ;  but  both  these 
seem  to  have  been  feeble  rulers,  and  only  three  or  four 
very  brief  and  meagre  inscriptions  from  their  reigns  have 
come  down  to  us.  Babylon  at  this  time  was  under  the 
rule  of  Nabopolassar  (625-605),  a  Chaldaean  (see  on 
Hab.  i.  6),  father  of  the  better  known  Nebuchadnezzar. 
At  first  Nabopolassar  seems  to  have  been  viceroy  of 
Babylon  under  Asshurbanipal  and  Asshur-etil-ilani ;  but 
an  irruption  of  tribes  from  the  S.  having  taken  place, 
probably  in  612  or  611,  being  ordered  by  his  suzerain 
Sin-shar-ishkun  to  take  the  field  against  them,  instead 
of  obeying  the  summons,  he  joined  forces  with  the  rebels, 
and  declared  the  independence  of  Babylon  '^.  The  precise 
course  of  events  which  terminated  ultimately  in  the 
destruction  of  Nineveh  is  not  perfectly  clear;  but  for  our 
present  purpose  the  uncertainty  is  immaterial.    According 

^  Rogers,  Hist,  of  Bah.  and  Ass.  (1900),  ii.  289. 
^  Cf.  Maspero,  Passing  of  the  Empires,  p.  482  f. ;    Rogers, 
ii.  307  9. 


lo  NAHUM 

to  Herodotus  (i.  102-104),  the  Medes,  whose  home  was  in 
the  mountains  between  Nineveh  and  the  Caspian  Sea, 
had  made  an  irruption  into  Assyria  {c.  635  B.C.),  which 
proved  fatal  both  to  their  king  Phraortes  and  to  the 
greater  part  of  his  army  ;  and  a  second  invasion  followed 
under  Cyaxares,  the  son  and  successor  of  Phraortes,  who, 
Herodotus  says,  even  began  the  siege  of  Nineveh  {c.  624), 
but  was  compelled  to  raise  it,  owing  to  his  own  country 
being  invaded  from  the  N.W.  by  Scythians.  After  the  re- 
treat of  the  Scythians  from  Asia,  some  years  afterwards, 
he  renewed  the  attack,  and  then  took  Nineveh  (Hdt.  i. 
106).  Some  further  particulars  of  the  final  close  of  the 
Assyrian  empire  are  given  in  an  inscription  of  Nabuna'id 
(Nabonidus),  the  last  native  king  of  Babylon  (B.C.  555-538}, 
found  in  1895  at  Hillah  (Babylon)^.  It  would  seem  from 
this  inscription  that  about  609  the  Assyrian  king, 
Sin-shar-ishkun,  invaded  Babylonia  for  the  purpose  of 
recovering  his  supremacy  over  it,  and  that  Nabopolassar 
called  in  to  assist  him  the  Umman-manda,  or  'hordes' 
of  northern  peoples,  who  are  mentioned  several  times  in 
the  inscriptions  as  invading  Assyria,  and  who  were 
always  ready  for  an  excuse  for  doing  so  again.  In 
Nabuna'id's  own  words,  Marduk  (Merodach,  the  supreme 
god  of  Babylon)  summoned  to  his  aid  '  the  king  of  the 
Umman-manda'^,'  who  thereupon  'above  and  below,  right 
and  left,  overwhelmed  the  land  like  a  deluge,'  destroying 
all  the  temples,  and  laying  waste  the  cities.  Nineveh  is  not 
expressly  mentioned,  any  more  than  any  other  city  is,  but 
it  cannot  be  doubted  that  it  is  included.  More  specific 
particulars  respecting  its  fate  are  wanting ;  but  the  fact 

^  See  Messerschmidt,  Die  Inschrift  der  Stele  Nabuna^icfs 
(1896). 

^  I.e.,  if  we  combine  this  account  with  that  of  Herodotus, 
Cyaxares.  According  to  Herodotus,  the  Medes  were  the  de- 
stroyers of  Nineveh  ;  but  '  Umman-manda '  is  a  vague  and 
general  term,  and  must  be  understood  as  including  the  Medes 
(Messerschmidt,  p.  71  ;  Maspero,  p.  484). 


INTRODUCTION  ii 

remains  that  in  or  about  the  year  607  B.  c.  ^  Nineveh  was 
destroyed ;  her  imposing  fortifications  (cf.  p.  32)  were 
powerless  to  save  her :  the  palaces  and  other  buildings, 
constructed  mostly,  except  on  the  outside,  of  unburnt 
bricks,  when  once  rifts  had  been  made  in  them,  quickly 
dissolved  in  the  rains,  and  became  masses  of  soft  clay, 
which  gradually  shaped  themselves  into  huge  grass- 
covered  mounds  ;  so  that  when  two  centuries  afterwards 
(B.C.  401)  Xenophon  led  home  the  remnant  of  the  10,000 
Greeks,  and  passed  by  the  spot,  all  that  he  knew  was  that 
a  great  and  impregnable  city  had  once  stood  there,  but 
'  Zeus  made  its  inhabitants  senseless,  and  so  it  was  taken.' 
It  was  reserved  for  the  explorers  of  the  last  century, 
especially  Botta,  Layard,  and  Rassam  ^,  to  penetrate  into 
those  mounds,  and  to  exhume  from  them  the  still  vocal 
monuments  of  the  art,  and  literature,  and  history,  and 
civilization  of  an  empire  which  for  more  than  five 
centuries  had  dominated  the  fortunes  of  the  greater  part 
of  Western  Asia,  and  which  also,  beyond  perhaps  anything 
else,  had  given  occasion  to  the  prophets  of  Israel  for 
some  of  their  greatest  utterances  ^ 

§  3.    Contents  and  Occasion  of  Nahum's  Prophecy. 

Chap.  i.  is  introductory.     It  begins  by  declaring  the 

character  of  Yahweh  as  'a  jealous  and  avenging  God;' 

and  then  passes  on  to  describe,  in  impressive  imagery, 

^  The  date  is  fixed  (within  a  year  or  two)  by  a  passage  in 
col.  X  of  the  Inscription,  in  which  Nabuna'id  says  that  the 
temple  of  Sin  (the  moon-god)  in  Harran  (the  Biblical  Haran) 
was  destroyed  by  the  Umman-manda  fifty-four  years  before  he 
restored  it,  in  his  third  year  {KB.  ii.  2,  99),  i.  e.  in  552. 

*  Asshurbanipal  was  a  patron  of  literature  ;  and  Rassam 
discovered  in  particular,  in  1853,  the  library  founded  by  him 
at  Nineveh,  which  has  furnished  modern  scholars  with  some 
of  the  most  valuable  monuments  of  Babylonian  and  Assyrian 
literature  which  they  possess. 

'  Cf.  Wellhausen,  Hist,  of  Isr.^  p.  472  f.  ;  and  the  fine  and 
instructive  chapter  in  G.  A.  Smith's  The  Twelve  Prophets^ 
i.  44ff. 


12  NAHUM 

the  effect  upon  the  world  of  nature,  when  He  appears  for 
judgement  (vv.  2-6) :  Yahweh  is  good  indeed  to  those 
who  trust  in  Him,  but  upon  His  enemies,  the  unrighteous 
oppressors  of  His  people,  He  pours  forth  His  wrath,  and 
Assyria  He  will  utterly  destroy  {vv.  7-15)  \ 

Chap.  ii.  A  vivid  imaginative  description  of  the  capture 
and  sack  of  Nineveh.  The  prophet  depicts  in  rapid 
succession  the  approach  of  the  assailants,  the  preparations 
for  the  attack,  the  charging  of  the  chariots,  the  opening 
of  the  gates,  the  flight  of  the  population,  the  treasures 
plundered  by  the  captors,  the  city  which  had  hitherto 
been  the  home  of  fearless  and  ferocious  warriors  (the 
'  den  of  lions,'  z^.  il  f.),  deserted  and  silent. 

Chap.  iii.  Further  development  of  the  theme  of  chap.  ii. 
The  cruelty,  the  avarice,  the  unprincipled  diplomacy  of 
the  Assyrians  are  the  cause  of  Nineveh's  fall :  and  again 
Nahum  sees  in  imagination  the  chariots  and  horsemen  of 
the  victors  forcing  their  way  through  the  streets  and 
spreading  carnage  as  they  go  {vv.  1-4).  For  Yahweh  is 
against  Nineveh  in  the  day  of  her  calamity  ;  there  will  be 
none  to  comfort  her  ;  as  little  will  she  be  able  to  avert  her 
doom  as  was  Thebes,  the  great  capital  of  Egypt,  in  spite 
of  her  strength,  and  the  vast  hosts  of  her  defenders 
(vv.  7-1 1 ).  Her  fortresses  will  fall  before  the  invader,  as 
ripe  figs  fall  into  the  mouth  when  the  tree  is  shaken ;  the 
busy  crowds  now  thronging  her  streets  will  vanish  like 
locusts;  and  amid  the  rejoicings  of  all  who  have  suffered  at 
her  hands,  the  proud  empire  of  Nineveh  will  pass  for  ever 
away  {vij.  12-19). 

Nahum's  poetry  is  fine.  Of  all  the  prophets  he  is  the 
one  who  in  dignity  and  force  approaches  most  nearly  to 
Isaiah.  His  descriptions  are  graphic  and  brilliant  (e.  g. 
ii.  3-5,  10,  iii.  2-3)  ;  his  imagery  is  effective  and  striking 
(e.g.  ii.  II,  12,  iii.  17,  18);   the  thought  is  always  ex- 

^  On  the  question  whether  this  chapter  is  really  Nahum's, 
see  below,  pp.  15,  25  f. 


INTRODUCTION  13 

pressed  compactly ;  the  parallelism  is  regular ;  Nahum 
nowhere  displays  that  prolixity  of  style  characteristic,  for 
example,  of  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel.  The  direct  teaching 
of  the  book  is  almost  confined  to  chap,  i,  where  the 
thought  is  developed  that  Yahweh  is  *a  jealous  and 
avenging  God,'  who,  though  He  suffer  long,  will  assuredly 
in  the  end  punish  wrong-doing,  but  who  is  faithful  and 
good  to  those  who  are  His  true  servants.  Indirectly,  the 
whole  book  is  a  prophecy  of  judgement  upon  brutahty 
and  wrong.  It  is  remarkable  that,  unlike  most  of  the 
prophets  (except  in  some  measure  Habakkuk),  Nahum 
makes  no  allusion  to  the  sins  of  his  own  people,  and 
sounds  no  call  to  repentance.  He  is  so  absorbed  with 
the  thought  of  the  iniquities  and  impending  punishment  of 
Assyria,  that,  though  he  is  manifestly  aglow  with  moral 
feeling,  he  does  not  in  this  connexion  think  of  his  own 
people.  The  violence,  the  oppressions,  the  inhumanities 
of  the  tyrant,  which  have  afflicted  not  Judah  only  but  the 
then  known  world,  must  have  their  end  ;  and  the  prophet 
for  the  moment  will  know  nothing  about  his  God, 
save  that  He  is  a  God  of  vengeance.  It  is  outraged 
humanity  at  large  which  calls  for  vengeance  from  his 
lips  (ii.  13,  iii.  4-5,  19^).  *  Assyria  in  his  hands  becomes 
an  object-lesson  to  the  empires  of  the  modern  world, 
teaching  as  an  eternal  principle  of  the  divine  government 
of  the  world,  the  absolute  necessity,  for  a  nation's  continued 
vitality,  of  that  righteousness,  personal,  civic,  and  national, 
which  alone  "  exalteth  a  nation  " '  (A.  R.  S.  Kennedy  in 
DB,  iii.  477). 

For  the  date  of  Nahum's  prophecy  we  have,  as  a  terminus 
a  quo,  the  capture  of  Thebes  (alluded  to  in  iii.  8-10)  in 
663,  and  as  a  ier7mnus  ad  quern  the  destruction  of 
Nineveh  by  the  Umman-manda  in  607  ^.  These  some- 
what wide  limits  may,  however,  no  doubt  be  reduced. 

*  The  view  of  Dr.  Pusey,  and  other  older  commentators, 
that  Nahum  prophesied  under  Hezekiah,  is  seen  to  be  unten- 
able, now  that  the  date  of  the  capture  of  Thebes  is  known. 


14  NAHUM 

The  Hebrew  prophets  usually  had  some  historical  occasion 
for  their  prophecies  ;  and  that  can  hardly  in  the  present 
case  be  anything  but  some  great  danger  threatening 
Nineveh,— the  *  hammer,'  as  Nahum  says  in  ii.  i,  has 
already  '  come  up  before  '  her:  we  should  think  naturally 
either  of  the  occasion  when,  if  Herodotus  is  to  be 
believed,  Cyaxares  first  laid  siege  to  Nineveh  in  624,  or 
of  the  final  and  successful  attack  made  by  the  Umman- 
manda  in  607.  We  know  too  little  of  the  preliminary 
movements  of  the  attacking  forces,  or  of  the  form  in  which 
the  news  of  their  approach  first  reached  Judah,  on  either 
of  these  occasions,  to  be  able  with  confidence  to  fix  the 
date  more  precisely.  The  decision  must  depend  largely 
upon  the  view  taken  of  i.  13,  15.  On  the  one  hand,  if 
these  verses  (see  p.  26  n.)  are  really  Nahum's,  Kuenen's 
argument^  is  forcible  that,  as  Judah  was  probably 
throughout  Asshurbanipal's  reign  tributary  to  Assyria 
(p.  3),  the  promises  of  freedom  expressed  in  them  suit  the 
first  of  these  occasions  much  better  than  the  second 
(when  the  decline  of  the  Assyrian  power  had  more  than 
begun,  and  Judah  was  probably  no  longer  tributary  to  it) : 
on  the  other  hand,  chs.  ii— iii  seem  certainly,  in  Prof. 
Kennedy's  words  {DB.  iii.  476),  to  'palpitate  with  the 
conviction  that  the  "utter  end"  of  the  Assyrian  is  at 
hand,'  and  hence  those  scholars  (as  Wellh.,  Nowack, 
Kennedy,  Marti),  who  reject  Nahum's  authorship  of  i.  13, 

15  (see  p.  26),  have  no  hesitation  in  assigning  those  parts 
of  the  book  which  they  attribute  to  Nahum  to  the  period 
shortly  before  607,  when  the  enemy  had  already  entered 
Assyria,  but  before  they  had  actually  invested  the  capital 
(see  iii.  14  f.):  it  is  also  possible,  even  if  i.  13,  15  are 
from  Nahum  himself,  to  refer  the  prophecy  to  the  same 
date,  if  we  may  suppose  Nahum  to  speak  (G.  A.  Smith, 
p.  87)  not  from  the  feelings  of  any  single  year,  but  with 

^  Einl.  ii.  §  75.  9,  10.    Kuenen's  date  is  accepted  by  Maspero 
{Passing  of  the  Empires,  p.  470  «.). 


INTRODUCTION  15 

the  impression  upon  him  of  the  whole  epoch  of  Assyrian 
servitude  drawing  to  a  close  ^  We  may  wish  that  we 
had  fuller  information  of  the  times  :  but  for  the  purpose 
of  understanding  and  appreciating  the  prophecy  of  Nahum, 
it  is  happily  immaterial  to  which  of  the  two  occasions  in 
question  it  is  referred. 

The  unity  of  the  book  was  formerly  (e.  g.  by  Kuenen  in 
1891)  unquestioned.  A  closer  study  of  ch.  i  (see  pp.  25  flf.)  has, 
however,  led  most  recent  commentators  and  critics  to  believe 
that  it  is  in  reality  composite,  and  that  the  genuine  prophecy 
of  Nahum  is  limited  either  to  ii.  i,  3 — iii.  19  (A.  R.  S.  Kennedy, 
Marti — the  latter,  however,  including  i.  11,  14),  or,  as  Nahum 
could  hardly  (Wellh.)  have  begun  his  prophecy  with  ii.  i, 
to  i.  9-12,  14,  ii.  I,  3 — iii.  19  (Nowack),  to  which  the  rest  of 
ch.  i  and  ii.  2  were  prefixed  afterwards  as  an  introduction — 
i.  2-10  (to  take  Marti's  view)  being  part  of  an  acrostic  Psalm, 
describing  God's  vengeance  on  His  foes,  and  so  enunciating 
the  broad  principle  which  is  afterwards  exemplified  in  the 
particular  case  of  Nineveh  (ii.  i,  3,  &c.),  and  i.  12  ^  13,  15,  ii.  2 
proclaiming  the  other  side  of  the  judgement  on  the  heathen, 
viz.  the  salvation  of  Zion,  and  written  with  direct  reference 
to  the  following  prophecy  on  Nineveh.     Cf.  p.  26  n. 

^  Davidson  (p.  17  f.),  as  well  as  G.  A.  Smith  (p.  88),  also 
apparently  prefers  the  later  date. 

^  The  first  part  of  this  verse  is  certainly  more  or  less  corrupt 
(see  the  note  ad  loc.)  ;  and  Marti  corrects  it  into,  *  The  days  of 
my  controversy  (with  Israel)  are  ended,  they  are  gone  (Ps.  xc. 
10)  and  passed  away  '  (nin  lu  >2n  O'  ychx:  for  d-»  pi  D'obw  dn 
iii-i  iriJ3  pi). 


Kilometres 
9        %        \ 


Walker  &  Cockerell  sc 


Plan  of  Nineveh. 

(From  the  Encyclopaedia  Biblica,  iii.  3423,  by  permission 
of  the  Publishers,  Messrs.  A.  and  C.  Black.) 


Explanation  of  Symbols. 

Wr Nahum 

A Later  Addition 


NAHUM 

The  ^  burden  of  Nineveh.     The  book  of  the  vision  of  1 
Nahum  the  Elkoshite. 

*  Or,  oracle  concerning 

i.  1.  Title. 

1.  The  burden  of  Nineveh.  Render,  with  marg.,  TAe  oracle 
concerning  Nineveh.  Massd  means  properly  a  'lifting  up,'  and  is 
hence  used  in  a  concrete  sense  sometimes  of  a  *  thing  lifted  up/ 
i.  e.  a  *  burden '  (e.  g.  Ex.  xxiii.  5),  sometimes  of  a  *  lifting  up ' 
of  the  voice,  or  of  a  *  word  or  speech  taken  up '  upon  the  lips  ^, 
i.e.  a  'solemn  utterance'  or  'oracle ' :  so  2  K.  ix.  25  {lit.  *  lifted  up 
this  uplifting*  =  'uttered  this  utterance';  cf.  RVm.);  Jer.  xxiii. 
33-40  (where  there  is  a  play  on  the  double  meaning  of  the  word, 
'  oracle '  and  '  burden  ') ;  Prov.  xxxi.  i  ;  and  often  in  the  titles  of 
prophecies,  as  Is.  xiii.  i,  xiv.  28,  xv.  i,  &c.  (see  RVm.). 

the  vision.  The  '  vision,'  especially  in  the  earlier  history  of 
prophecy,  appears  often  as  a  form  of  prophetic  intuition  (cf.  Hos. 
xii.  10),  and  the  prophets  are  frequently  spoken  of  as  'seeing' 
things  in  vision  (e.g.  Nu.  xxiv.  4,  14  ;  i  K.  xxii.  17,  19;  Am. 
vii-ix ;  Is.  vi ;  Jer.  i.  11,  13)  :  cf.  the  term  '  seer,'  i  S.  ix.  9,  11, 
18,  19  [ro^eh']:  2  S.  xxiv.  11 ;  Am.  vii.  12  [Jiozehl;  and  Is.  xxx.  10 
(where  '  prophets  '  and  '  prophesy  '  are  lil.  '  gazers  '  and  '  gaze  ') ; 
and  so  in  course  of  time  'vision'  became  a  general  term  for  a 
'prophecy,'  whether  actually  'seen'  or  not  (e.g.  Is.  i.  i  ;  Obad. 
i)  :  and  to  'see'  came  to  be  applied  inexactly  to  'oracle'  (Is. 
xiii.  i;  Hab.  i.  i)  ;  'word'  (Is.  ii.  i;  Mic.  i.  i) ;  or  *  words' 
(Am.  i.  i).  There  is  no  reason  for  supposing,  either  here  or  in 
any  of  the  other  last-cited  passages,  that  the  prophecy  following 
was  originally  the  subject  of  a  vision. 

Nahum  the  Elkoshite.  See  the  Introduction,  §  i.  The 
name  '  Nahum'  would,  by  analogy,  mean  '  full  of  comfort'  [i.  e., 
probably,  '  is  Yah  ']  :  see  DB.  iii.  473  n. 

2-15.  Introduction.  Yahweh  is  a  God  who  hates  oppression 
and  is  powerful  in  judgement  {vv.  2-6),  He  will  therefore  assuredly 

^  Cf.  the  cognate  verb  *to  lift'  or  'take  up'  in  Nu.  xxiii.  7,  18; 
Jer.  vii.  16,  29;  Am.  y.  i,  &c. 


i8  NAHUM  1.  2,  3.     A 

3  [A]  (^?)  The  Lord  is  a  jealous  God  and  avengeth ;  the 
Lord  avengeth  and  is  full  of  wrath;  [the  Lord  taketh  ven- 
geance on  his  adversaries,  and  he  reserveth  wrath  for  his 

3  enemies.    The  Lord  is  slow  to  anger,  and  great  in  power, 

interpoee  to  overthrow  the  tyrant,  and  effect  the  deliverance  of 
His  own  people  {vv.  7-15).  Vv.  2-8  consist  really  of  a  series  of 
couplets  :  and  might  have  been  suitably  printed  in  lines  exhibiting 
the  parallelism.  They  also  show  traces  of  an  acrostic  (indicated 
in  the  text  by  the  Hebrew  letters).     See  pp.  24-26. 

2-6.  Yahweh  is  a  jealous  and  avenging  God,  who,  though 
He  may  be  long-suffering,  does  not  eventually  leave  guilt  un- 
punished, but  manifests  Himself  terribly  in  judgement. 

2.  More  nearly  in  the  order  of  the  original,  and  also  more 
forcibly  : — 

A  jealous  and  avenging  God  is  Yahweh, 
Yahweh  is  avenging,  and  full  of  wrath  ; 
Yahweh  is  avenging  towards  his  adversaries, 
And  he  retaineth  (wrath)  against  his  enemies. 

jealous:  so  that  He  will  not  endure  that  the  honour  which 
is  His  own  or  His  people's  due  should  be  permanently  withheld 
with  impunity,  and  especially  that  it  should  be  rendered  to  a  false 
god  (Ex.  XX.  5,  xxxiv.  14;  Dt.  xxxii.  21).  Here  the  implicit 
thought  is  that  His  jealousy  is  now  about  to  be  aroused  by  the 
long-continued  wrongs  inflicted  upon  His  people  by  its  foes  (cf. 
Is.  xlii.  13  ;  Ez.  xxxvi.  5,  6,  xxxix.  25). 

aveng'ing:  cf.  Is.  i.  24;  Ez.  xxv.  14,  17;  Is.  lix.  17,  Ixi.  2, 
Ixiii.  4,  &c.  The  thought  of  Yahweh's  vengeance  is  one  which 
is  much  more  prominent  in  the  later  than  in  the  earlier  prophets  : 
see,  e.g.,  Is.  xxxiv.  8,  xxxv.  4  (exilic);  Jer.  xlvi.  10,  1.  15,  28, 
li.  6,  II,  36. 

full  of  wrath :  lit.  '  possessor  of  wrath '  (so  Prov.  xxix.  22**)  : 
a  poetical  expression  ;  cf.  (in  the  Hebrew)  Prov.  xxii.  24*. 

retaineth  (wrath) :  i.  e.  is  with  difficulty  appeased.  The 
same  expression  Lev.  xix.  18  (EVV.,  idiomatically,  'bear  any 
grudge')  ;  Jer.  iii.  5  ;  Ps.  ciii.  9. 

What  is  here  predicated  of  God  is  denied  of  Him  in  Jer.  iii.  5, 
Ps.  ciii.  9,  and  forbidden  to  man  in  Lev.  xix.  18  ('  Thou  shalt  not 
avenge,  or  retain  (anger)  towards  thy  neighbour ')  :  the  differ- 
ence, in  each  case,  of  circumstance  and  situation  must  be  noted. 

3*.  slow  to  ang-er :  as  first  in  Ex.  xxxiv.  6  (JE),  and  repeated 
thence  frequently.  Lit.  Mong  of  anger'  (fxafepoOvfios)  :  cf.  the 
opposite,  'short  (i.  e.  quick)  of  anger,'  Prov.  xiv.  17. 

great  in  power :   not  here,  as  it  seems,  of  physical  strength 


NAHUM  1.  4.     A  19 

and  will  by  no  means  clear  the  guilty  \\  the  Lord  (3)  hath  his 
way  in  the  whirlwind  and  in  the  storm,  and  the  clouds  are 
the  dust  of  his  feet.    (:)  He  rebuketh  the  sea,  and  maketh  4 
it  dry,  and  drieth  up  all  the  rivers  :  Bashan  languisheth, 

(Job  ix.  4),  but  of  power  to  control  the  feelings  (Job  vi.  ii  f.),  and 
grant  pardon  to  those  who  have  given  offence  ;  cf.  Nu.  xiv.  17  f. 
(JE),  of  which  indeed  the  present  passage  is  apparently  a  re- 
miniscence, '  Let  the  power  of  Yahweh  be  great  (viz.  to  pardon, 
V.  19),  according  as  thou  hast  spoken,  saying,  Yahweh  is  slow  to 
anger,  and  plenteous  in  mercy  .  .  .  but  will  by  no  means  clear  (the 
guilty),'  &c. 

but  will  by  no  means  clear  the  guilty.  The  reverse  side 
of  the  Divine  nature  :  Yahweh  is  indeed  not  readily  moved  to 
anger,  and  is  ready  to  pardon,  but  He  will  not  in  the  end  leave  the 
impenitent  unpunished.  The  first  and  third  clauses  of  this  verse 
are  taken  directly  from  the  great  declaration  of  Yahweh's  character 
contained  in  Ex.  xxxiv.  6f..  and  repeated  Nu.  xiv.  18  (and  in  part 
elsewhere,  as  Joel  ii.  13  ;  Ps.  Ixxxvi.  15,  ciii.  8). 

clear :  more  exactly,  '  treat  as  innocent,*  or  (as  in  the 
Decalogue)  'hold  guiltless,'  i.e.  'leave  unpunished,' — an  idea  which 
is  certainly  included  :  cf.  (in  the  passive)  Jer.  xxv.  29  '  and  should 
ye  be  unpunished  V 

3^.  To  the  Hebrews  Yahweh  seemed  to  manifest  Himself 
particularly  in  storm  and  earthquake,  and  other  great  movements 
of  nature ;  and  so  there  follows  a  description  of  His  power,  as 
seen  in  operation  in  a  series  of  such  phenomena  : — 

Yahweh,  his  way  is  in  the  whirlwind  and  in  the  storm. 
And  the  clouds  are  the  dust  of  his  feet. 

For  the  first  line  cf.  especially  Ps.  xviii.  9-14,  xxix.  3-9  (which 
show  how  the  Hebrews  pictured  Yahweh  as  borne  along  in  the 
thunder-cloud),  and  see  also  Is.  xxix.  6,  and  on  Hab.  iii.  3,  4; 
the  second  line  suggests  a  sublime  picture  of  His  greatness  and 
majesty. 

4.  He  rebuketh  the  sea,  &c.  Viz.  by  driving  it  back  by  His 
wind,  with  allusion  to  the  drying  up  of  the  Red  Sea  at  the 
Exodus  (cf.  Ps.  cvi,  9),  though  (as  the  participle  in  the  Hebrew 
shows)  the  expression  is  here  generalized,  and  intended  to  refer  to 
all  similar  phenomena  of  nature  (cf.  Is.  xliv.  27,  1.  2). 

and  drieth  up  all  the  streams.  As  the  Jordan  (Jos.  iv.  23  ; 
Ps.  Ixxiv.  15);  but  also  (notice  'all')  streams  in  general,  when  the 
heat  of  summer  or  a  protracted  drought  (i  K.  xvii.  7  ;  Joel  i.  ao) 
empties  the  wadys. 

lang-uisheth,  &c.    Bashan,  Cannel,  and  Lebanon  are 

C    2 


20  NAHUM  1.  5-7.    A 

and  Carmel,  and  the  flower  of  Lebanon  languisheth. 

5  (n)  The  mountains  quake  at  him,  and  the  hills  melt ;  (1) 
and  the  earth  is  upheaved  at  his  presence,  yea,  the  world, 

6  and  all  that  dwell  therein.  Who  can  stand  before  (t)  his 
indignation  ?  and  who  can  abide  in  the  fierceness  of  his 
anger  ?  (n)  his  fury  is  poured  out  like  fire,  and  the  rocks 

7  are  broken  asunder  by  him.     (d)  The  Lord  is  good,  a 


mentioned  as  the  most  luxuriantly  wooded  parts  of  Palestine 
(cf.  Is.  ii.  13,  xxxiii.  9,  xxxv.  2  [read  majesty  for  excellency']) ;  but 
even  they  must  droop  and  wither,  when  the  hot  sirocco  (see  on 
Hag.  ii.  17),  blowing  up  fiercely  from  the  desert  (Jer.  iv.  11), 
strikes  upon  them  (cf.  Hos.  xiii.  15  ;  Is.  xl.  7).  The  work  and 
power  of  God  are,  indeed,  manifest  as  truly  and  effectually  in  the 
tranquil  and  normal  operations  of  nature  as  in  those  which  are 
violent  and  extraordinary  :  but  they  do  not  impress  the  beholder 
as  visibly ;  and  thus  the  latter  are  more  naturally  taken  to  typify, 
or  illustrate,  His  revelation  in  judgement. 

flower:  better,  bud,  i.e.  not  only  the  bud  of  flowers  (Is. 
xviii.  5),  but  also  budding  shoots  and  foliage  (cf.  the  verb,  Pr. 
xi.  28). 

langfuisheth.     Or,  droopeth  :  cf.  Joel  i.  12. 

5.  The  prophet  returns  here  to  the  thought  of  v.  s**,  the  de- 
scription of  the  theophany  in  the  storm.  As  the  thunder  rolls 
along,  the  mountains  seem  to  quake  (cf.  Ps.  xxix.  6,  8  ;  Hab.  iii. 
6),  torrents  of  water  pour  down  the  gullies  (Judges  v.  5 ;  Mic.  i. 
4),  and  the  earth,  shaken  by  the  thunder  (Ps.  xviii.  7),  seems  to 
rise  up  out  of  its  place.  A  thunder-storm  in  a  mountainous  region 
is  evidently  to  be  thought  of;  but  the  terms  of  the  description  are 
plainly  hyperbolical. 

is  upheaved.  The  rendering  is  doubtful.  Perhaps,  changing 
only  the  vowel-points,  we  should  read  is  wasted  (Is.  vi.  11). 

6.  The  application.  Who  can  stand  before  such  a  God,  a  God  at 
whose  presence  even  the  rocks  are  torn  in  pieces  ? 

Who  can  stand,  -^c.     Cf.  Jer.  x.  10 ;  Mai.  iii.  2. 

is  poured  out.     For  the  figure,  cf.  Jer.  vii.  20,  xliv.  6  al. 

like  fire.  It  is  as  vehement  and  destructive  as  a  stream 
of  fire. 

and  the  rocks  are  torn  down  before  him  {lit.  'from  him '). 
The  allusion  is  to  masses  of  rock  loosened  in  a  thunder-storm. 
*  Torn  down  '  :  the  word  is  used  oi pulling  or  tearing  down  an  altar 
(Jud.  vi.  30)  a  tower  (viii.  17),  a  city-wall  (a  K.  xxv.  10),  &c. 

7-15.  Yahweh's  wrath  alights,  however,  not  upon  those  who 


NAHUM  1.  8,9.     AN  21 

strong  hold  In  the  day  of  trouble ;  and  ("•)  he  knoweth 
them  that  put  their  trust  in  him.    But  with  an  overrunning  8 
flood  (a)  he  will  make  a  full  end  of  the  place  thereof,  and 
will  pursue  his  enemies  into  darkness.     [N]  What  do  ye  9 

trust  in  Him,  but  only  upon  His  foes  ;  and  His  people's  oppressors 
\le  will  utterly  destroy. 

7.  Yahweh  is  good,  as  a  strong-  hold,  &c.  Cf.  Ps.  xxxvii. 
39 ;  and  especially  Jer.  xvi.  19.  But  LXX  have  *  to  them  that 
wait  for  him  '  (Ps.  xxv.  3,  &c.  ;  and  especially  Lam.  iii.  25)  for  *  as 
a  strong  hold  '  :  this  yields  a  better  sense  and  also  forms  a  better 
parallel  to  the  next  clause,  whether  we  substitute  it  for  '  as  a  strong 
hold'  (We.  formerly,  Dav.,  Smith),  or  suppose  it  to  have  fallen  out 
accidentally  before  it  (Gunkel,  Nowack,  "We.  now,  Marti),  omitting 
in  the  latter  case  the  '  as.' 

knoweth :  i.  e.  takefh  knowledge  of,  regardeth,  as  Ps.  i.  6,  xxxvii. 
18  ;  Gen.  xviii.  19  (RV.)  ;  Am.  iii.  2  ('You  only  have  I  known  of 
all  the  families  of  the  earth  '). 

that  take  refuge  in  him.  RV.  *  put  their  trust  in  him '  is 
a  correct  paraphrase,  but  one  that  entirely  obliterates  the  ex- 
pressive figure  of  the  original.  The  verb  is  cognate  with  the 
substantive  rendered  refuge  in  Is.  iv.  6,  xxv.  4,  Ps.  xlvi.  i,  Ixi.  3, 
&c.  :  it  is  rendered  take  refuge  in  RV.  of  Ruth  ii.  12,  Ps.  xxxvi. 

7,  Ivii.  I,  Ixi.  4,  xci.  4,  Is.  xiv.  32  ;  and  the  same  rendering 
might  well  have  been  adopted  elsewhere,  as  Jud.  ix.  15 ;  Is.  xxx. 
2,  3  ;  Ps.  ii.  12,  vii.  i,  xi.  i,  &c.,  and  here. 

8.  with  an  overflowing  flood.     Carrying  all  before  it  (Is.  viii. 

8,  xxviii.  15). 

a  full  end  (Heb.  kdldh).  As  Jer.  iv.  27,  v.  10,  18,  xxx.  11  = 
xlvi.  28.     (In  Is.  X.  23,  xxviii.  22  rendered  '  a  consumption.') 

the  place  thereof.  Heb.  her  place,  i.e.  Nineveh's,  the 
pronoun  referring  to  a  subject  not  yet  expressed,  but  in  the 
writer's  mind  (cf.  '  them,'  in  Is.  xiii.  2,  'their'  in  Is.  xxxiii.  2, 
which  show  that  this  use  of  the  pronoun  is  defensible).  LXX, 
however,  have,  with  a  very  slight  change  in  the  Heb.,  them 
that  rise  np  against  him  (Dt.  xxxiii.  11  al.),  which  forms  an 
exact  parallel  to  '  his  enemies '  in  clause  b,  and  is  probably  the 
original  reading.  Render  then,  with  present  tenses  (the  thought 
of  the  verse  being  now  quite  general),  maketh  a  full  end  of  them 
that  rise  np  against  him,  and  pursueth  his  enemies  into 
darkness. 

pursueth  into  darkness.    Cf.,  for  the  thought,  Job  xviii.  18. 

9.  What  do  ye  imagine,  &c.     Cf.  v.  11,     It  is  folly  to  frame 
plans '  (cf.  Hos.  vii.  15)  against  Yahweh,  or  seek  to  thwart  His 

^  The  intensive  conjugation  (to  think  much,  ponder,  meditate'). 


22  NAHUM  1.  10.     N 

imagine  against  the  Lord?    he  will  make  a  full  end: 

10  affliction  shall  not  rise  up  the  second  time.     For  though 

they  be  like  tangled  thorns,  and  be  drenched  as  it  were 

in  their  drink,  they  shall  be  devoured  *  utterly  as  dry 

*  Or,  as  stubble  fully  dry 


purpose ;  for  a  full  end  is  he  maktiig'  (or,  *  is  he  about  to  make') ; 
that  is  His  intention  :  He  is  already  carrying  it  out,  and  it  will  not 
be  frustrated. 

trouble  (v.  7)  sball  not  rise  up  twice :  i.  e.  (probably)  the 
trouble  which  now  threatens  Nineveh  will  be  once  for  all ;  it  will 
not  need  to  be  repeated.  Cf.  i  S.  xxvi.  8  '  Let  me  smite  him 
with  the  spear  to  the  earth  once,  and  I  will  not  repeat  it  to  him ' 
(similarly  2  S.  xx.  10).  '  He  will  not  take  vengeance  of  his 
adversaries  twice*  (Gunk.,  Bick,,  Now.,  Marti :  suggested  by  the 
LXX)  ^  suits,  however,  the  context  well,  and  may  be  the  original 
reading  (cf.  p.  25). 

10.  The  American  Revisers  (see  their  notes  at  the  end  of  RV. 
of  the  OT.),  more  exactly,  Por  entangled  like  thorns,  and 
drunken  as  with  their  drink,  they  shall  be,  &c.  The  words 
are  understood  to  mean  that  the  Ninevites,  though  in  consequence 
of  their  strong  defences  they  are  as  difficult  to  approach  and  deal 
with  as  a  thorn-hedge  (cf.  2  S.  xxiii.  6f.),  and  though — with 
sarcastic  allusion  to  their  Supposed  love  of  carousals— they  are 
soaked  through  as  with  their  wine,  and  consequently  so  wet  that 
the  flames,  it  might  be  thought,  could  not  harm  them,  will  never- 
theless be  consumed  as  quickly  as  dry  stubble.  But  the  sense 
thus  obtained  is  very  forced  ;  and  the  words  *  drunken  as  with 
their  drink  '  come  in  strangely  after  the  figure  of  the  *  thorns,' 
besides  being  (in  the  Heb.)  open  to  the  suspicion  of  being 
a  corrupt  repetition  of  '  entangled '  ;  so  that  it  is  impossible  to 
believe  that  we  have  this  part  of  the  verse  in  its  original  form  ; 
the  rendering  '  like '  for  n?  is  also  very  questionable.  Marti 
proposes,  They  are  all  of  them  as  thorns  cut  off  (Is.  xxxiii.  12) : 
this  yields  a  good  sense;  but  deviates  considerably  (except  in 
'thorns  cut  off')  from  the  existing  text. 

be  devoured :  viz.  by  the  flames  ;  cf.  Is.  v.  24,  xlvii.  14  ; 
Obad.  18. 

utterly.     RVm.  fully   (connecting   the   word   with   the   ad- 
is  against  the  rendering  adopted  by  many  moderns,  *  What  think  ye 
with  regard  to  Yahweh  ?  * 
^  ms  D'oye  cnp>  nV  (Jos.  x.  13),  for  ms  D^oyD  Dipn  hV. 


NAHUM  1.  IT,  12.     N  .  23 

stubble.    There  is  one  gone  forth  out  of  thee,  that  imagin-  1 1 
eth  evil  against  the  Lord,  » that  counselleth  ^  wickedness. 
Thus  saith  the  Lord  :  Though  they  be  in  full  strength,  12 
and  hkewise  many,  even  so  shall  they  be  cut  down,  and 
he  shall  pass  away,   c  Though  I  have  afflicted  thee,  I  will 

*  Or,  a  wicked  counsellor  ^  Or,  worthlessness  Heb.  Belial. 

*=  Or,  So  will  I  afflict  thee,  thai  I  shall  afflict  &c. 

jective  dry).     Either  rendering  is  extremely  doubtful :  the  word 
no  doubt  belongs  really  to  v.  11;  see  note  ^  below. 

11.  Did  not^  one  come  forth  out  of  thee,  who  imagrined 
evil  against  Yahweh,  who  counselled  villainy  ?  The  allusion 
is  generally  supposed  to  be  to  Sennacherib.  The  pronoun  ( '  thee ') 
is  pointed  as  a  feminine,  implying  that  some  country  or  city  is 
addressed,  which,  in  the  present  context,  can  be  only  Nineveh. 

villainy.  Lit. '  unprofitableness,'  but  in  usage  an  opprobrious 
term  for  what  is  base  (Dt.  xv.  9  RV.  ;  Ps.  ci.  3  RV.),  unprincipled, 
villainous.  The  marg.  says,  '  Heb.  Belial' ;  but  the  word  is  not 
really  a  proper  name,  in  spite  of  its  use  as  such  (in  the  form  Beliar) 
in  later  times,  as  Jubilees  i.  20,  xv.  33,  and  in  other  writings  of  the 
same  age*,  and  2  Cor.  vi.  15.  'Sons'  (or  'men')  'of  unprofit- 
ableness* (Jud.  xix.  22,  I  S.  xxv.  25  al.)  means  simply  base 
(Dt.  xiii.  13  RV.)  or  unprincipled  fellows. 

12*  (to  pass  away).  The  hosts  of  Nineveh,  however  complete 
and  numerous,  will  nevertheless  vanish  and  pass  away.  The 
Hebrew,  however,  in  which  this  thought  is  expressed  is  very 
strange,  and  inspires  as  little  confidence  that  it  is  correct  as  that 
of  V.  10.  We.  suggests  tentatively.  Though  the  great  waters 
(fig.  of  the  multitudes  inhabiting  Nineveh,  cf.  ii.  8)  be  never  so 
full,  they  shall  disappear  and  pass  away  :  this  would  yield  a  good 
sense  ;  but  the  word  rendered  '  never  so  full '  (properly  whole, 
complete)  is  not  elsewhere  used  of  waters. 

12^  The  text  means:  'Though  (lit.  'And')  I  have  afflicted  thee, 
(O  Judah,)  I  will  afflict  thee  no  more'  (so  Keil,  Marti').  The 
marg.  is  a  threat  to  Assyria  :  'And  I  will  afflict  thee,  (O  Assyria,) 
so  that  I  afflict  thee  no  more  '  (so  Ew.,  Hi.,  We.,  Dav.,  Smith),  i.e. 
the  blow  will  be  a  final  one.  The  latter  is  the  better  rendering  of  the 
Hebrew  as  it  stands  ;  but  a  very  slight  change  (see  note  ^)  would 

*  So  Wellh.,  very  cleverly,  reading  the  superfluous  nVd  ('  utterly,' 
*  fully '),  at  the  end  of  v.  10,  as  N')n  at  the  beginning  of  v.  1 1. 

*  See  EB.  s.  v. ;  and  Charles's  edition  of  the  apocryphal  Ascension 
of  Isaiah  (igoo),  pp.  Iv-lvii,  6-7. 

^  Marti,  however,  easing  the  grammar  by  reading,  for  vh  "^'ir:?^, 
mVi  "|'n':y,  i.e.  /  have  afflicted  thee,  but  I  will  afflict  thee  no  more. 


<24  '  NAHUM  1.  13,14.     N  A?N 

13  afflict  thee  no  more.  [A?]  And  now  will  I  break  his 
yoke  from  off  thee,  and  will  burst  thy  bonds  in  sunder. 

14  [N]  And  the  Lord  hath  given  commandment  concerning 
thee,  that  no  more  of  thy  name  be  sown :  out  of  the 
house  of  thy  gods  will  I  cut  off  the  graven  image  and 
the  molten  image ;  I  will  make  thy  grave ;  for  thou  art 

express  unexceptionably  the  sense  of  the  former  rendering ;  and 
in  the  uncertainty  of  the  context  it  is  difficult  to  say  which  was 
the  sense  originally  intended. 

13.  Judah  is  addressed :  she  will  now,  it  is  promised,  be 
freed  from  the  yoke  of  Assyria.  Judah  was  probably  tributary 
to  Assyria  through  much,  if  not  the  whole,  of  Asshurbanipal's  reign 
(cf.  pp.  3f.,  12).  Cf.  the  same  promise  as  made  by  Isaiah  (Is.  x.  27, 
xiv.  25). 

his  yoke.  Properly,  *  his  bar,'  i.  e.  (here)  the  horizontal  pole 
of  the  yoke,  to  which  two  other  perpendicular  'bars'  were 
attached,  enclosing  the  neck  of  the  animal :  cf.  the  '  bars  of  the 
yoke,*  Lev.  xxvi.  13  ;  Ez.  xxxiv.  27  ;  Jer.  xxvii.  2  ;  Is.  Iviii.  6 
(twice),  9  (where  'yoke'  is  properly  'bar,'  as  here). 

and  will  burst  (or,  better,  snap,  Is.  v.  27)  thy  thongs 
asnnder.  The  thongs  fastening  the  yoke  to  the  animal's  neck. 
The  same  two  words  are  regularly  used  in  the  same  connexion  : 
cf.  Ps.  ii.  3,  and  especially  Jer.  xxx.  8. 

14.  Here  the  personified  Assyrian  people  is  addressed  (the 
pronouns  in  this  verse  are  pointed  as  masculines).  As  Wellh. 
has  remarked,  the  verse  would  be  much  more  forcible  if  the 
opening  '  And '  (i)  were  omitted :  Yahweh  hath  ^ven  com- 
mandment, &c. 

no  more  of  thy  name  be  sown.  More  exactly,  it  shall  not 
be  sown  from  thy  name  any  more,  i.  e.  thou  shalt  be  annihilated, 
there  will  be  none  to  perpetuate  thy  name  :  cf.  Is.  xiv.  20^  and 
such  expressions  as  destroy  or  blot  out  the  name,  Dt.  vii.  24,  xxix. 
20;  I  S.  xxiv.  21. 

out  of  the  house  (i.  e.  temple)  of  thy  gods,  &c.  The  Inscrip- 
tions have  disclosed  to  us  how  many  gods  the  Assyrians  worshipped, 
Asshur,  Ishtar,  Anu,  Shamash,  Ninib,  &c.,  and  what  honours 
they  paid  them  ^ ;  but  now,  the  prophet  declares,  they  will  all 
be  powerless  to  save  their  country  ;  their  temples  will  be  sacked, 
and  their  images  destroyed. 

I  will  make  thy  grave,  i.  e.  prepare  a  grave  for  thee.  The 
prophet  pictures  the  whole  nation  as  doomed  to  be  laid  in  the 
grave  together. 

^  Jastrow,  Religion  of  Bab.  and  Ass.  (1898),  pp.  1S8-238. 


NAHUM  1.  15.     N  A?  25 

vile.    [A  ?]  a^Behold,  upon  the  mountains  the  feet  of  him  15 
that  bringeth  good  tidings,  that  publisheth  peace  !    Keep 
thy  feasts,  O  Judah,  perform  thy  vows  :  for  b  the  wicked 
one  shall  no  more  pass  through  thee ;  he  is  utterly  cut  off. 

•  [Ch.  ii.  I  in  Heb.]         ^  Or,  the  man  of  wortklessness  Heb.  Belial. 

for  thou  art  of  small  account.  For  the  rendering,  see  Job 
xl.  4  RV.  ;  and  cf.  i  S.  ii.  30  ('  be  lightly  esteemed '). 

vile  in  RV.  is  retained  here  from  AV. ;  and.  as  Kimchi's  note 
on  the  passage  shows  \  vile  in  AV.  has  here  its  now  obsolete  sense 
(derived  directly  from  the  Lat.  tilis,  'cheap'),  of  common  or  0/ 
small  account.  The  Heb.  word  kdlal  does  not  mean  *  vile '  in 
its  modern  sense  of  'morally  detestable'^.  But  the  verse  ends 
weakly  ;  and  perhaps,  with  a  slight  change,  we  should  read 
(We.,  Marti),  /  zvill  make  thy  grave  a  shame  {'in.  5). 

15.  Assyria  is  no  more ;  and  the  prophet  sees  in  imagination 
upon  the  mountains  the  messengers  hastening  to  announce  the 
glad  tidings  in  Jerusalem.  Judah  is  now  free  ;  and  she  may  keep 
her  feasts  in  gladness,  and  offer  thanks  for  her  deliverance  in 
fearlessness  and  security.  The  greater  part  of  clause  a  is  repeated 
by  the  author  of  Is.  xl-lxvi  in  Is.  Hi.  7,  when  announcing  to  his 
people  the  approaching  fall  of  Babylon,  and  the  restoration  of  the 
exiles  ('  How  beautiful  upon  the  mountains  are  the  feet,'  &c.). 

perforin  thy  vows.  The  vows  made  in  the  days  of  her 
adversity  (Ps,  Ixvi.  13-14).  The  command  to  perform,  or  pay, 
them  implies  indirectly  that  the  prayer  for  dehverance  has  been 
granted,  and  that  the  danger  is  now  past  :  cf.  Ps.  xxii.  25,  Ixi. 
8,  Ixvi.  13. 

the  villainous  one.  A  term  of  reproach  for  the  hateful 
Assyrian,  whose  officers  appointed  to  collect  the  tribute  (cf. 
pp.  3f.,  and  Is.  xxxiii.  18)  will  no  more  pass  through  Jerusalem. 
On  the  Heb.  word  used,  see  on  v.  11  ;  and  for  '  worthlessness,' 
as  equivalent  to  '  worthless  man  {or  men)/  cf.  2  S.  xxiii.  6  (see 
RVm.),  Job  xxxiv.  18*  (RV.  'vile,'  in  the  modern  sense  of  the 
word^.  With  the  promise  in  general,  cf.  Is.  Hi.  i  :  also  Joel  iii. 
17'' ;  Zech.  ix.  8. 

In  parts  of  Nah,  i  there  are  traces  of  an  alphabetic  arrangement 
in  the  successive  half-verses,  similar  to  what  we  find  in  Pss.  ix-x 

^  The  translators  of  161 1  are  often  dependent  upon  Kimchi  (a.  d. 
1 160-1235)  ;  and  he  explains  here  by  looked  down  upon,  despised. 

^  The  reader  should  remember  that  there  are  several  passages  in 
AV.,  and  even  in  RV.,  in  which  *  vile '  is  used  in  this  old  sense,  as 
Job  xl.  4  AV.,  Jer.  xv.  19  AV.  RV. ;  Lam.  i.  11  AV.  RV.;  Phil, 
iii.  21  AV.  {-raiiuvCjatois). 


26  NAHUM  1. 

(imperfect),  xxv,  xxxiv,  xxxvii,  cxi,  cxii,  cxix,  cxlv,  Lam.  i-iv, 
Prov.  xxxi.  10-31 :  it  has  accordingly  been  supposed  that  originally 
there  was  here  a  complete  acrostic  poem,  and  various  attempts 
have  been  made  to  restore  it  completely.  The  alphabetical  order 
is  found  actually  in  vv.  2»  (a),  4''  (3),  5*  (n),  s^  (^),  6*"  (n),  7*  (^), 
9*  (d),  and  it  can  be  restored  by  insignificant  omissions  in  vv.  2^ 
(-)>  7^  0)j  ^2^  Wj  ^^^  ^4*  (^)>  ^"^  ^y  ^  transposition  and  the 
addition  of  a  letter  in  v.  6*  (i)  :  the  remaining  verses  can  be 
adjusted  to  it  only  by  the  assumption  that  more  extensive  alterations 
and  transpositions  have  taken  place  in  the  text  than  are  probable 
(see,  for  instance,  the  restoration  in  Nowack's  Commentary  ^).  The 
best  study  on  the  subject  is  that  of  G.  B.  Gray  in  the  Expositor^ 
Sept.  1898,  p.  207  fF.,  who,  working  upon  the  results  obtained  by 
his  predecessors^,  restores  the  first  12^  couplets  of  the  acrostic 
as  follows' : — 

2*  (n)    a  God  jealous  and  avenging  is  Yahweh  ; 

Yahweh  is  avenging  and  full  of  wrath  *. 
3**  (n)    In  whirlwind  and  storm  is  his  way, 

and  clouds  are  the  dust  of  his  feet. 
4*   (a)    He  rebuketh  the  sea  and  drieth  it  up, 

and  parcheth  all  the  rivers. 
4^  (l)    Bashan  and  Carmel  lose  their  leaves ', 

and  the  bud  of  Lebanon  languisheth. 
5*  (n)    Mountains  quake  because  of  him, 

and  [all]  the  hills  melt. 
5^   (l)    And  the  earth  becometh  desolate*  before  him, 

the  world  and  all  that  dwell  therein. 
6*   (l)    Before  his  indignation,   who  can  stand  ?^ 

and  who  can  abide  in  the  heat  of  his  anger? 

^  Ed.  I  :  in  ed.  2  the  attempt  is  abandoned  after  v.  8,  and  it  is 
admitted  that  it  cannot  be  carried  through  without  '  the  greatest 
violence.' 

'^  Especially  by  Bickell  (1S80,  18S2,  1S94),  Gunkel  (1893),  and 
Novvack  (1897). 

'  The  English  renderings  are  sometimes  accommodated  to  those 
adopted  in  the  preceding  notes. 

*  The  four  lines  which  here  follow  In  the  Heb.  text  must.  If  the 
poem  was  once  an  acrostic,  be  regarded  as  a  gloss,  intended  to  qualify 
the  absolute  statements  contained  in  the  two  preceding  lines. 

'  Lit.  '  become  thin '  (Sbl  for  "jtow). 

^  MU?rn  (Is.  vl.  1 1),  for  Nbni :  so  Gunkel,  Nowack. 

"^  In  V.  6%  however,  vi^ij  nny>  ^o  loi"^,  though  quite  grammatical. 
Is  less  easy  and  natural  than  the  existing  order  lOS"  'O  TO?"!  'acS  :  see 
Ps.  cxlvii.  17;  and  cf.  analogously  Job  Iv.  2,  xxvi.  14,  xxxviii.  37, 
xxxix.  5,  xH.  5,  6. 


6^ 

(n) 

7* 

(:.) 

7^ 

0) 

8 

(:3) 

$ 

(^) 

NAHUM  1.  27 

His  fury  is  poured  out  like  fire, 
and  the  rocks  are  torn  down^  before  him. 
Good  is  Yahweh  to  [them  that  wait  for  him]  ', 
a  stronghold  in  the  day  of  trouble. 
He  knoweth  them  that  take  refuge  in  him, 
and  in  the  overflowing  flood '  [delivereth  them]. 
An  utter  end  he  maketh  of  them  that  rise  up  against  him, 
and  he  thrusteth*  his  enemies  into  darkness. 
Not  twice  doth  he  take  vengeance  on  his  adversaries  ^, 
an  utter  end  he  maketh. 
9*   (o)  What  do  ye  devise  against  Yahweh  ? 

As  Dr.  Gray  points  out,  the  successive  Hebrev^r  letters  appear 
so  often  in  the  existing  text  at  the  constant  interval  of  just  two 
lines,  that  their  occurrence  can  scarcely  be  accidental ;  and  if  this 
be  granted,  it  is  legitimate  to  endeavour  to  restore  the  acrostic. 
Dr.  Gray's  restoration  of  vv.  2-9  postulates  no  unreasonable 
textual  alterations,  and  is  certainly  plausible.  He  makes  no 
attempt  to  restore  the  rest  of  the  acrostic,  rightly  feeling  that 
the  changes  required  would  be  so  radical  that  there  could  be  no 
confidence  in  their  correctness  ^  We  possess  indeed  no  assurance 
that  V.  10  ff.  ever  were  part  of  the  acrostic  :  the  traces  of  the 
alphabetic  order  are  here  much  slighter  than  in  vv.  2-9,  and  the 
character  of  the  verses  differs  ;  in  vv.  2-9  the  description  of 
judgement  is  quite  general,  whereas  in  v,  10  ff.  there  seem  to  be 
definite  references  to  a  particular  foe,  whose  yoke  has  rested  upon 
Judah,  but  whose  destruction  is  now  promised,  and  the  way  is 
thus  prepared  for  chap.  ii.  A  formal  acrostic  poem  is  not  very 
likely  to  have  been  adopted  by  Nahum  himself  as  an  introduction 
to  this  prophecy :  assuming  its  existence  (as  far  as  v.  9)  to  be 
established,  the  most  probable  view  is  that  a  later  editor  found 
the  poem  among  the  materials  before  him,  and  the  beginning  of 
Nahum's  genuine  prophecy  being  mutilated,  he  adapted  it  as 
a  suitable  introduction  to  a  prophecy  of  judgement,  attaching 
himself  no  importance  to  its  alphabetical  form  as  such,  and  so 

*  Dr.  Gray,  with  We.,  Gunk.,  Now.,  Marti,  reads  are  kindled  (ini*: 
for  irn:)  :  but  this  change  seems  unnecessary. 

'  See  the  note  on  v.  7. 
^  Cf.  Ps.  xxxii.  6^ 

*  nin'  for  niT  (so  Gunk.,  Now.,  Wellh.,  Marti;  see  Job  xviii.  18 
Heb.). 

'  See  the  note  on  v.  9. 

*  Wellh.,  in  the  third  edition  of  his  Kleine  Propheten  (1898), 
p.  159,  rejects  altogether  the  attempts  made  by  Gunkel  and  Bickell 
to  restore  vv.  10  ff.  :  he  accepts,  however,  the  acrostic  for  vv.  2-8 
substantially  as  given  above. 


28  NAHUM  2.  T,  2.     N  A 

2      [N]  He  that  dasheth  in  pieces  is  come  up  before  thy 

face  :  keep  the  munition,  watch  the  way,  make  thy  loins 

2  strong,  fortify  thy  power  mightily.     [A]  For  the  Lord 


combining  it  in  its  latter  part  with  what  was  preserved  of  Nahum 
himself  (cf.  Budde,  EB.  iii.  3261)  ^ 

ii.  1-10.  A  powerful  and  graphic  imaginative  description  of  the 
capture  and  sack  of  Nineveh. 

1.  The  approach  of  the  attacking  army.  Nineveh  is  addressed, 
Nahum  ironically  bidding  her  prepare  to  resist  the  assailant. 

He  that  dasheth  in  pieces :  i.  e.  the  destroying  foe.  As 
pointed,  however,  the  Hebrew  could  only  mean  The  scatterer; 
but  probably  the  punctuation  should  be  altered  so  as  to  express 
the  sense  of  The  Hammer  or  War-club  (lit.  The  shatterer  :  Pr.  xxv. 
18  '  maul '),  the  same  word  which  in  Jer.  11.  20*  (AV.  and  RV. 
'  battle-axe ')  is  applied  to  a  formidable  crushing  power  (cf.  the 
cognate  verb,  vv.  2o''-23). 

is  come  up  before  thy  face :  i.  e.  has  broken  up  camp,  and  is 
now  advancing  against  thee. 

make  strong  (or  firm)  the  loins :  i.  e.  be  courageous,  the 
loins  being  the  seat  of  strength.  Contrast  v.  10  'there  is  trembling 
in  all  loins,'  and  *  make  the  loins  to  totter,'  in  Ps.  Ixix.  23. 

fortify  thy  power  mig-htily :  better,  '  strengthen  (thy)  might 
exceedingly,'  i.  e.  collect  thy  powers,  show  both  bodily  prowess 
and  mental  intrepidity.  Cf.  the  same  expression,  used  similarly 
of  a  warrior,  in  Am.  ii.  14. 

2.  The  reason  :  Yahweh's  purpose  to  restore  the  ancient  glory 
and  splendour  of  Jacob  (cf.  Is.  xiv.  i).  The  verse  seems,  however, 
to  be  misplaced  :  it  interrupts  the  description  of  the  advance  of 
the  foe  {vv.  i,  3),  and  would  more  naturally  follow  i.  15,  even  if 
(note  ^  below  ;  p.  13)  it  is  not  a  later  addition  to  the  text  of  Nahum. 

*  In  I.  12 — ii.  2  it  has  been  noticed  that  Assyria  and  Judah  are 
addressed  alternately  in  alternate  verses :  and  it  has  consequently 
been  supposed  that  the  verses  relating  to  Judah  (i.  13,  15,  ii.  2) 
do  not  belong  to  the  original  context  of  Nahum  (We.,  Smith), 
but  are  a  later  addition  intended  to  express  the  joyful  consequences 
for  Judah  of  the  fall  of  its  great  foe  (Now.,  Marti).  Certainly  ii.  2 
cannot  be  in  its  right  place,  and  the  terms  in  which  it  is  expressed 
might  even  suggest  that  Judah  had  been  'emptied'  as  it  was  in 
the  Babylonian  captivity;  but  the  terms  of  i.  13,  15  leave  no  doubt 
as  to  who  is  addressed;  and  there  seems  to  be  no  reason  why  Nahum 
himself  should  not  have  turned  aside  from  his  main  theme  in  order 
to  congratulate  his  country  on  its  coming  deliverance. 


NAHUM  2.  3.     AN  29 

bringeth  again  the  excellency  of  Jacob,  as  the  excellency 
of  Israel :  for  the  emptiers  have  emptied  them  out,  and 
marred  their  vine  branches.    [N]  The  shield  of  his  mighty  3 

bringretli  agrain.  Rather,  is  bringing  back.  Again  was 
used  in  Old  English  where  we  should  say  back ;  and  is  so  found 
in  EVV.  in  passages  where  back  would  be  much  clearer :  cf.  Gen. 
xiv.  16,  xxiv.  5,  6,  8,  xlviii.  21.  The  participle,  is  bnnging  back 
(i.  e.  is  on  the  way  to  bring  back),  as  often  in  the  prophets,  of  the 
imminent  future  (or  of  the  future,  conceived  and  pictured  as  im- 
minent). 

excellency  (twice).  Render  majesty,  or  pride  (in  a  good 
sense)  :  cf.  Hos.  v.  5  and  vii.  10  ('  the  pride  of  Israel ' — referred 
here  by  some  to  Yahweh),  Am.  vi.  8,  viii.  7,  Jer.  xiii.  9  (in  a  bad 
sense),  Ps.  xlvii.  4  (in  a  good  sense),  where  a  corresponding 
change  should  be  made  in  EVV.  Excellency  (like  excellent)  retained 
in  Old  English  its  etymological  sense,  which  it  has  now  lost,  of 
surpassingness,  pre-eminence  (from  ex-cello,  to  rise  up  out  of)  ;  and 
both  words  wherever  they  occur  in  AV.  or  RV.  must  be  understood 
in  this  sensed  Here,  however,  the  Heb.  word  {go' on)  does 
not  mean  even  pre-eminence,  but  majesty  or  pride  (by  both  of 
which  words  it  is  in  fact  often  rendered  :  Is.  ii.  10,  19,  21  ;  Mic. 
V.  4  «/.).  The  retention  of  excellency  and  excellent  in  the  RV. 
for  words  expressive  of  pre-eminence,  superiority,  or  majesty,  is 
much  to  be  deplored'*. 

Jacob, — in  poetry  (e.  g.  Gen.  xlix.)  and  the  higher  prose 
style,  a  synonym  of  Israel, — must  here  (from  the  context)  denote 
Judah  (as  Is.  xliii.  i,  xliv.  i  al.). 

as  the  majesty  of  Israel :  i.  e.  if  the  text  be  sound,  as  He 
has  promised  (e.  g.  in  Hos.  xiv)  to  restore  the  glory  of  the 
Northern  Kingdom,  Butif  a  comparison  between  the  two  kingdoms 
had  been  intended,  we  should  have  expected  it  to  be  more  clearly 
expressed  by  the  use  of 'Judah 'for  'Jacob' in  the  preceding  clause  : 
perhaps  therefore  the  present  clause  is  a  gloss,  added  originally 
upon  the  margin  by  a  scribe. 

emptiers.  Fig.  iox plunderers-,  cf.  Is.  xxiv.  i  ;  Jer.  li.  2. 

and  marred  their  vine  branches.  Judah  is  represented 
under  the  figure  of  a  vine  (Is.  v.  i  ff.  ;  Ps.  Ixxx.  8  ff.),  which  has 
been  ravaged  by  rough  assailants  (cf.  Jer.  v.  10,  xii.  10 — in  each 
case  the  word  rendered  destroyed  being  the  same  as  that  rendered 
marred  here). 

^  Except  Ps.  xxxvii.  20,  i  P.  ii.  9  (RV.),  where  the  Revisers  have 
introduced  it  in  its  modern  sense. 

*  See  more  fully  the  synopsis  of  passages  in  the  writer's  Com- 
mentary on  Daniel  (in  the  Cambridge  Bible)t  pp.  32-34. 


30  NAHUM  2.  4.     N 

men  is  made  red,  the  valiant  men  are  in  scarlet  :   the 

chariots  *^  flash  with  steel  in  the  day  of  his  preparation, 

4  and  the  ^  spears  are  shaken  terribly.     The  chariots  rage 

*  Heb.  are  with  fire  of  steel.  ^  Heh.fir  ttves. 


3-5.  Continuation  of  v.  i  ;  and  description  of  the  assault. 

3.  The  equipment  of  the  warriors. 

xniglity  men :  i.  e.  warriors  :  a  common  usage,  as  in  David's 
'mighty  men,'  2  S.  xxiii.  8,  i  K.  i.  8,  10.  The  pronoun  ('his') 
refers  to  the  destroyer  mentioned  in  v.  i. 

made  red :  the  allusion  is  uncertain.  It  is  generally  supposed 
to  be  to  shields  covered  with  bright  copper,  which  in  the  sunUght 
would  reflect  a  reddish  tint  (Jos.  Ant.  xiii.  12.  5  ;  i  Mace.  vi.  39) ; 
but  shields  were  also  often  covered  with  leather,  which  may  have 
been  dyed  red.  Whichever  of  these  views  is  correct,  the  red  colour 
is  no  doubt  mentioned  particularly  as  being  suggestive  of  blood. 

in  scarlet.  The  army  of  the  Persians,  under  the  younger 
Cyrus  (Xen.  Cyrop.  VI.  iv.  i),  '  flashed  with  bronze,  and  gleamed 
with  crimson  military  cloaks  {y\vdH  Sc  <poiviK[ai)  '  ;  the  Spartan 
soldiers,  also,  wore  cloaks  of  the  same  colour  (Liddell  and  Scott, 

S.  V.   (pOlVlKli). 

steel.  The  word  occurs  only  here  :  and  the  meaning  'steel' 
was  conjectured  by  Ges.  from  the  sense  of  the  corresponding 
word  in  Arabic.  It  is,  however,  a  serious  objection  to  this 
etymology  that  the  Arabic  word  for  steel  {phulddh)  is  borrowed 
from  the  Persian  {piilddo)  ;  and  a  Persian  word  would  hardly 
have  found  its  way  into  Hebrew  as  early  as  in  the  time  of  Nahum. 
But  whatever  uncertainty  may  rest  upon  the  meaning  of  this 
particular  word,  '  with  fire  '  (see  RVm.)  makes  it  probable  that 
the  clause  was  meant  to  contain  some  reference  to  *  the  burnished 
plates  of  metal  with  which  the  chariots  were  mounted  or  mailed, 
and  the  glittering  weapons  hung  on  them '  (Dav.). 

in  the  day  of  his  preparation.  Viz.  for  the  battle  :  cf.  the 
cognate  verb  in  Jer.  xlvi.  14,  Ez.  xxxviii.  7. 

spears :  lit.  '  fir  trees,'  supposed  here  to  be  used  for  'long 
lances.'  But  the  expression  is  a  strange  one  ;  and  LXX,  Pesh. 
(reading  a  for  d)  have  '  horsemen,'  or,  as  the  same  word  might 
also  be  vocalized  {Lex.  p.  832*),  chargers  (Jer.  xlvi.  4) :  the 
clause  will  then  describe  the  impetuous  movements  of  the  cavalry, 
as  they  rush  into  the  fray  (so  We.,  Now.,  Marti,  Halevy). 

are  shaken  terribly:  lit.  'are  made  to  reel'  (or  'quiver'), 
without  '  terribly.'     Of  the  horses,  quiver  with  impatience. 

4.  The  charging  of  the  chariots. 

raire  :  lit.  'are  mad.'    Cf.  Jer.  xlvi.  9,  also  of  chariots. 


NAHUM  2.  5,  6.     N  31 

in  the  streets,  they  justle  one  against  another  in  the  broad 
ways  :  the  appearance  of  them  is  hke  torches,  they  run 
Hke  the  lightnings.  He  remembereth  his  worthies :  they  5 
stumble  in  their  march  ;   they  make  haste  to  the  wall 
thereof,  and  the  mantelet  is  prepared.     The  gates  of  the  6 

the  streets  .  .  .  the  broad  places.  As  the  attacking  forces 
do  not  make  their  assault  upon  the  walls  till  v.  5  end,  the  prophet 
must  here  picture  them  as  engaged  in  the  '  streets '  and  *  broad 
places '  of  the  suburbs,  outside  the  fortified  wall  of  the  city,  and 
according  to  Col.  Billerbeck,  in  his  elaborate  study  of  the 
topography  and  fortifications  of  ancient  Nineveh',  on  its  N.  side. 
The  '  broad  place  '  was  very  much  what  we  should  call  a  square  : 
cf.  (in  RV.)  Is.  xv.  3  ;  2  Ch.  xxxii.  6  ;  Neh.  viii.  i,  3,  16.  The  word 
is  often,  even  in  RV.,  misrendered  'street '  ;  cf.  on  Zech.  viii.  4. 

like  torches,  &c.  'The  glitter  of  the  mailed  chariots  and 
their  furious  racing  is  compared  to  torches  and  lightning ' 
(Davidson). 

run.  More  exactly,  'dart  to  and  fro,'  the  form  used  being 
intensive.     Halevy,  changing  a  letter,  would  read  flask. 

SS^  The  hurried  and  impotent  measures  of  defence  taken 
by  the  inhabitants. 

He  remembereth  his  worthies.  '  He '  is  the  Assyrian  king, 
who,  as  he  sees  the  enemy's  chariots  approaching  the  walls, 
bet/links  himself  of  his  worthies,  or  nobles  (Jud.  v.  13), — i.  e.  of  the 
commanders  of  his  troops  (cf.  iii.  18),  who  may  summon  their 
men,  and  organize  the  defence  of  the  city. 

they    sttunble    in   their    march.      The    defenders,    being 
summoned  suddenly,    and   badly   disciplined,  stumble  over  one 
another  in  their  haste  (contrast  Is.  v.  27,  xiv.  32  RVm.). 
5"^>  ^.     The  besiegers'  assault  upon  the  walls. 

the  mantelet:  lit.  'the  coverer.'  The  word  occurs  only 
here;  but  probably  denotes  the  'mantelet  2,'  or  movable  shelter, 
which  enclosed  and  protected  the  men  who  worked  the  ram,  or 
other  battering  implement,  employed  in  ancient  warfare  for 
making  a  breach  in  a  wall.  See  illustrations  of  such  movable 
shelters,  as  used  by  the  Assyrians  themselves,  in  Rawlinson, 
Anc.  Monarchies,  i.  470,  or  EB.  s.  v.  '  Siege.' 

^  Billerbeck  und  Jeremias,  Der  Untergang  Nineveh's  und  die 
Weissagungsschrift  des  Nahum  in  Delitzsch  and  Haupt's  Beitrdge 
sur  Assyriologie,  iii.  (1895),  p.  146. 

*  *  Mantelet '  (from  mantle  and  mantel,  both  meaning,  in  different 
senses,  a  '  covering ')  is  defined  as  a  movable  wooden  penthouse, 
used  by  miners  in  approaching  the  walls  of  a  castle  or  town. 


32  NAHUM  2.  7.     N 

7  rivers  are   opened,  and  the   palace  is  dissolved.   "-  And 
Huzzab  is  uncovered,  she  is  carried  away,  and  her  hand- 

•  Or,  And  it  is  decreed ;  she  is  uncovered  &c. 


6.  The  entry  into  the  city.     (Cf.  the  plan,  p.  16.) 

The  gates  of  the  streams.  Nineveh  lay  on  the  E.  bank  of 
the  Tigris,  about  25  miles  above  its  confluence  with  the  Upper  Zab 
(which  flows  into  it  from  the  NE.)  ;  it  was  in  shape  an  irregular 
parallelogram,  its  NW.  wall  being  about  a  mile  long,  and  its  SW. 
wall  about  two  and  a  half  miles  long.  The  Khusur,  a  perennial 
mountain-stream,  ran  through  it  from  NE.  to  SW. ;  a  little  NW.  of 
this  there  was  also  a  canal,  which  left  the  Khusur  higher  up,  and 
likewise  flowed  through  the  city  till  it  entered  the  Tigris.  The 
wall  of  the  city  was  surrounded  by  a  deep  moat.  E.  of  the  city 
there  was  a  strong  semi-circular  outwork  ;  and  outside  this,  two 
massive  walls,  each  at  least  fifty  feet  high,  and  nearly  three  miles 
long,  with  a  broad  moat  between  them.  These  moats  were  filled 
with  water  from  the  Khusur  and  the  canal ;  and  remains  of  the 
large  dams  and  sluices  regulating  the  supply  of  water  are  still 
traceable  in  places.  We  cannot,  however,  be  sure  what  exactly 
the  *  gates  of  the  streams  '  here  mean.  The  sluices  by  which  the 
moats  were  emptied  have  been  suggested ;  but  perhaps  the  most 
probable  view  on  the  whole  is  that  the  reference  is  to  the  gates  at 
the  points  where  the  Khusur  and  the  canal  passed  through  the 
city  walls  (the  vulnerable  side  of  Nineveh  was  on  the  N.).  It  is 
scarcely  to  be  supposed  that  Nahum  had  an  accurate  topographical 
knowledge  of  Nineveh  ;  he  knew,  no  doubt,  generally  that  it  was 
protected  by  strong  walls  and  encircling  moats  :  the  details  he 
would  fill  in  with  the  help  of  his  imagination.  Whatever  '  gates' 
he  had  in  mind,  the  effect  of  their  being  opened,  as  the  prophet 
pictured  it,  was  that  the  city  was  at  the  mercy  of  the  foe. 

the  palace  is  dissolved.  More  clearly  (for  '  dissolve '  is  not 
now  used  in  its  old  fig.  sense  of  relax^  enfeeble^  weaken)^  '■  is  melted 
away  (in  fear) '  ;  the  meaning  being  that  its  inmates  are  incapaci- 
tated and  helpless  through  terror  and  despair.  We  might  say 
now,  is  in  dismay.     Cf.  Ex.  xv.  15  ;  Jos.  ii.  9,  24  ;  Is.  xiv.  31. 

7.  The  capture  and  exile  of  the  queen. 

Huzzah.  The  sequel  shows  (notice  'her  handmaids')  that 
this  must  either  be  itself  the  name  of  the  queen,  or  be  the  corrup- 
tion of  some  word  which  was  the  name  of  the  queen.  Nothing 
more  is  known  of  the  person  intended  ;  nor  has  any  light  been 
thrown  upon  the  word  by  Assyriology.  The  marg.  it  is  decreed 
is  doubtful  philologically,  and  may  be  disregarded. 

uncovered :  i.  e.  exposed,  dishonoured  :  cf.  iii.  5  ;  Is.  xlvii. 
2,  3  (of  Babylon,  figured  as  a  lady,  led  ignominiously  into  exile). 


NAHUM  2.  8,  9.    N  33 

maids  *  mourn  as  with  the  voice  of  doves,  tabering  upon 
their  b  breasts.  But  Nineveh  hath  been  c  from  of  old  hke  8 
a  pool  of  water :  yet  they  flee  away ;  Standi  stand,  they 
cry\  but  none  <^looketh  back.    Take  ye  the  spoil  of  silver,  9 

*  Or,  lead  her  ^  Heb.  hearts. 

"  Or,  from  the  days  that  she  hath  been 
^  Or,  causeth  them  to  turn 

carried  away.  Better,  *  taken  off'  {Jit.  '■  taken  up ' :  cf.  Ps.  cii. 
24,  Job  xxxvi.  20  RVm.,  of  sudden  removal). 

motirn.  Moan  (which  is  no  doubt  the  sense  intended  by  the 
Revisers  in  'mourn '^).  The  verb  means  elsewhere  in  Heb. 
to  lead  (so  AV.  and  RVm.)  ;  but  *  lead '  is  here  unsuited  to  the 
context,  and  *  moan '  is  supported  by  the  use  of  the  corresponding 
word  in  Syriac  (see  Ps.  xxxviii.  8,  in  the  Syriac  Version). 

as  withthevoiceof  doves.  For  thecomparisonof  themoaning 
of  mourners  to  the  note  of  the  dove,  cf.  Ez.  vii.  16 ;  also  Is. 
xxxviii.  14,  lix.  ii  (in  each  case  mourn  being  =' moan  '). 

tabering- :  i.  e.  drumming  or  beating  2.  To  smite  the  breast 
was  a  gesture  of  grief  or  despair  :  Luke  xviii.  13 ;  cf.  also  Koirrofxai 
(Mt.  xi.  17,  &c.),  TvnTOfxai,  and  Aen.  i.  481. 

8.  The  vast  population  of  Nineveh  is  compared  to  the  water  of 
a  large  tank,  rapidly  pouring  away  through  opened  sluices :  the 
command  to  halt  is  unheeded  ;  none  pauses  in  his  flight. 

from  the  days  that  she  hath  been  (RVm.)  :  i.  e.  ever  since 
the  beginning  of  her  history.  RV.  (  =  AV.)  is  a  paraphrase  ^  But 
it  is  very  possible  that  some  letters  (^cn)  have  been  repeated  by 
error  ;  and  that  we  should  read  simply.  But  Nineveh  is  like  a  pool 
of  waters  fleeing  away. 

flee  away :  properly,  *  are  fleeing ' ;  the  prophet  realizes  the 
scene  with  great  vividness.    'They '  refers  to  'water'  {lit. '  waters'). 

look  not  hack.    The  marg.  is  unnecessary :  see  Jer.  xlvi.  5. 

9.  The  sack  of  the  city.  Nineveh  being  thus  abandoned  by  its 
inhabitants,  the  prophet  dramatically  addresses  the  conquerors, 
and  bids  them  plunder  its  treasures,  which  include  every  kind  of 
valuable,  and  are  endless. 

Take  ye  the  spoil  of  silver,  &c.  Or,  more  tersely  and 
forcibly  (like  the  Heb.),  '  Plunder  silver  !  plunder  gold  ! ' 

'  Cf.  *  mourn'  (i.e.  moan),  said  of  doves,  in  Is.  xxxviii.  14, 
lix.  II  ;   Ez.  vii.  16. 

^  The  verb  used  is  derived  from  the  Heb.  word  for  a  taber  or 
timbrel,  and  is  used  in  Ps.  Ixviii.  25  of  striking  the  timbrel. 

^  The  Heb.  is,  however,  very  peculiar.  The  same  sense  would  be 
obtained  much  more  naturally  by  reading  "I'O^  for  N'n  ^^p:  see 
I  K.  i.  6  J  Job  xxxviii.  12. 


34  NAHUM  2.  10,  II.     N 

take  the  spoil  of  gold  :  for  there  is  none  end  of  the  store, 

10  the  » glory  of  all  pleasant  furniture.  She  is  empty,  and 
void,  and  waste ;  and  the  heart  melteth,  and  the  knees 
smite  together,  and  anguish  is  in  all  loins,  and  the  faces 

1 1  of  them  all  are  waxed  pale.     Where  is  the  den  of  the  lions, 

*  Or,  wealth 

the  glory  (or  as  marg.  :  see  Gen.  xxxi.  i.  RVm.,  and  cf.  Is. 
X.  3  end)  of  all  precious  articles  (Hos.  xiii.  15,  where  the 
Heb.  is  the  same).  The  word  rendered  articles  is  a  wide  one, 
and  may  include  both  jewels,  or  ornaments  (Ex.  xi.  a),  vessels 
(2  K.  iv.  3),  and  household  goods  or  furniture  (Gen.  xxxi.  37,  xlv. 
20,  'stuff'),  as  also  weapons  (i  S.  xxi.  8),  instruments  (Am.  vi.  5), 
&c.  The  valuables  of  all  kinds  to  be  found  in  a  great  city  are 
what  is  denoted  by  the  expression. 

10.  In  a  series  of  exclamations,  the  prophet  depicts  graphically 
the  desolation  of  the  city,  and  the  helplessness  and  dismay  of 
those  still  remaining  in  it :  Empty,  and  blank,  and  bare  I  and 
meltingr  heart,  and  totteringf  of  knees,  and  ansTuish  in  all 
loins ;  and  the  faces  of  them  all  are  waxed  pale. 

empty,  &c.  The  first  three  words  {bukdh  iitnebukdh 
umebulldhdh,  properly  substantives)  contain  a  paronomasia  such  as 
the  Hebrew  prophets  love  (cf.  Is.  xxii.  5,  xxix.  2  ;  Zeph.  i.  15),  but 
of  a  kind  which  cannot  be  reproduced  in  English.  For  the  word 
rendered  empty  cf.  the  cognate  verb,  Jer.  xix.  7,  and  of  a  land, 
as  here,  v.  2  above,  Jer.  li.  2,  Is.  xxiv.  i,  3  ;  for  that  rendered 
bare^  Is.  xxiv.  r  (EVV.  maketh  .  .  waste  :  not  elsewhere). 

meltingr  heart :  i.e.  courage  gone  :  Jos.  vii.  5 ;  Is.  xiii.  7  ol. 

tottering*  of  knees.  Cf.  the  'bowing  knees'  of  Job  iv,  4, 
Is.  XXXV.  3.  For  tottering,  see  Jer.  x.  4  ('move').  Is.  xxviii.  7 
('stumble').  '  Smite  together'  is  a  paraphrase,  due  to  the  Targ. 
and  Kimchi  explaining  here  by  the  word  used  in  Dan.  v.  6. 

angfnish  (properly  'twisting,'  'writhing')  in  all  loins.  Cf. 
Is.  xxi.  3. 

and  the  faces,  &c.  The  same  clause  recurs  in  Joel  ii.  6. 
The  expression  rendered  '  are  waxed  pale  '  is  a  peculiar  one,  and 
its  exact  meaning  is  uncertain  (modern  scholars  commonly  render 
withdraw  beauty)  :  but  the  paraphrase  of  RV.  no  doubt  expresses 
fairly  the  general  sense. 

11-12.  The  prophet,  seeing  in  imagination  Nineveh's  place 
empty,  inquires  ironically  what  has  become  of  it.  He  calls  it  a  den 
of  '  lions,'  with  allusion  not  only  to  the  intrepidity  of  its  warriors, 
but  also  to  the  cruelty,  ferocity,  and  rapacity,  with  which,  as  their 
inscriptions  abundantly  testify,  they  treated  conquered  nations, 
dealing  mercilessly  with  their  captives,  and,  like  lions  carrying  off 


NAHUM  2.  12,  13.     N  35 

and  the  feeding  place  of  the  young  lions,  where  the  lion 
^  and  the  lioness  walked,  the  lion's  whelp,  and  none  made 
them  afraid?     The  lion  did  tear  in  pieces  enough  for  his  12 
whelps,  and  strangled  for  his  lionesses,  and  filled  his  caves 
with  prey,  and  his  dens  with  ravin.  Behold,  I  am  against  13 
thee,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  and  I  will  burn  her  chariots 

*  Or,  even  the  old  lion 

prey  to  their  dens,  conveying  the  spoil  to  Nineveh  for  the 
beautification  of  their  capital. 

the  feeding-  place  of  the  yonng'  lions.  More  exactly,  and 
a  pasture  ground  was  it  for  the  young  lions.  The  rendering  of 
RV.  conceals  a  difficulty.  The  Heb.  word  used  means  a  grazing- 
or pasture-ground  (Ez.  xxxiv.  4)  for  cattle,  not  a  'feeding-place' 
in  which  a  carnivorous  animal  might  find  or  devour  its  prey. 
By  transposing  two  letters  (We.,  Now.,  Marti),  we  obtain  cave 
(not  the  word  used  in  v.  12)  for  *  pasture-ground,'  which  forms 
a  good  parallel  to  '  den.' 

and  the  lioness.  The  marg.  may  be  disregarded.  We., 
Now.,  Smith,  Marti,  however  (following  LXX,  Pesh.\  read, 
for '  where  the  lion  (and)  the  lioness  walked,'  *  whither  the  lion 
retreated  '  (/;/.  *  went  to  enter  in,'  ni^'j  for  N^nb). 

and  none  made  them  afraid.  Finely  suggestive  of  the 
security  with  which  Nineveh  exercised  its  supremacy  over  the 
nations. 

12.  Aneffective  figurative  description  of  the  ferocity,  destructive- 
nessand  rapacity  displayed  by  the  Assyrians  in  theircampaigns.  The 
verse  might  be  illustrated  from  almost  every  inscription  recording 
the  exploits  of  the  Assyrian  kings. 

caves.    Better,  for  distinction,  holes:  i  S.  xiv.  11  ;  Job  xxx. 

6  :rv.). 

ravin.  An  archaism  for  plunder  (Old-F.  ravine ;  Lat.  rapina, 
the  word  used  here  in  the  Vulgate).  Elsewhere  we  have  the  verb 
to  ravin,  as  Gen.  xlix.  27  ;  Mt,  vii.  15  :  cf.  Cymbeline,  i.  6,  40. 
See  Aldis  Wright's  Bible  Word-book,  s.  v. 

13.  But  now,  ere  long,  all  this  will  belong  to  the  past ;  Yahweh 
has  pronounced  the  word  against  Nineveh  ;  and  the  voice  of  her 
emissaries,  bearing  unwelcome  commands  among  the  nations, 
will  no  more  be  heard. 

I  am  ag-ainst  thee.  So  iii.  5  ;  and  often  in  Jer.  (as  xxi.  13, 
xxiii.  30,  31,  32)  and  Ezek.  (as  v.  8,  xiii.  8,  20,  xxi.  8).  Not 
elsewhere :  cf.  the  writer's  Introduction  to  the  Literature  of  the 
OT.  p.  279  (ed.  6  or  7,  p.  297). 

her  chariots.     Abrupt  changes  of  person  certainly  occur  in 

*  D   2 


6  NAHUM  3.  r,  2.     N 


in  the  smoke,  and  the  sword  shall  devour  thy  young 
lions :  and  I  will  cut  off  thy  prey  from  the  earth,  and  the 
voice  of  thy  messengers  shall  no  more  be  heard. 

3      Woe  to  the  bloody  city  !  it  is  all  full  of  lies  and  rapine ; 

2  the  prey  departeth  not.      The  noise  of  the  whip,  and  the 


Heb.  poetry  (e.  g.  Is.  xlii.  20)  :  but  the  change  from  the  second 
person  to  the  third  is  here  very  weak,  and  the  second  person 
reappears  directly  afterwards  :  so  that  no  doubt  thy  should  be 
read  for  her.  The  war-chariots  of  the  Assyrians  were  famous  (cf. 
Is.  xxxvii.  24).  At  the  same  time,  as  the  figure  of  the  lions  is 
kept  up  in  the  sequel,  we  should  rather  expect  some  kindred 
expression  here  :  Davidson  suggests  thy  lair  (so  Halevy),  Smend 
thy  thicket  (Jer.  iv.  7). 

young  lions.    As  in  v.  11,  a  figure  for  warriors. 

thy  messengers.  Hateful  officials  like  the  Rabshakeh,  Is. 
xxxvi.  4ff,,or  the  'messengers'  mentioned  in  Is.  xxxvii.  gfF., 
exacting  tribute  (cf.  p.  12)  or  demanding  submission  :  see  also 
Is.  xxxiii.  18. 

iii.  In  this  chapter  the  theme  of  ch.  ii  is  further  developed  and 
confirmed.  The  approaching  downfall  of  Nineveh  (which  is 
again  vividly  portrayed,  vv.  2,  3)  is  a  natural  consequence  of  her 
cruel  and  treacherous  treatment  of  other  nations,  w.  1-7 ;  the 
fate  of  Thebes,  in  Egypt,  will  also  be  hers  ;  her  defences,  one 
after  another,  will  yield  to  the  invader  ;  and,  amid  the  rejoicings  of 
all  who  have  suffered  at  her  hands,  her  power,  invincible  as  it 
seemed,  will  pass  for  ever  away,  vv.  8-19. 

1.  Ah!  the  bloody  city,  &c.  Alluding  to  the  sanguinary  military 
expeditions  in  which  the  Assyrians  were  nearly  always  engaged. 

Ah  I  not  'Woe'  (see  Jer.  xxii.  18,  xxxiv.  5):  the  interj.  hoy 
is  not  denunciatory,  but  expresses  dissatisfaction  and  pain  :  cf. 
Hab.  ii.  6,  9,  12,  &c. 

lies.  Alluding  probably  to  the  delusive  promises  of  help  or 
protection  by  which  the  Assyrians  would  take  advantage  of  the 
weaker  nations,  and  get  them  into  their  power. 

rapine.  Properly  'what  is  rent.'  The  cognate  verb  occurs 
in  Ps.  vii.  2,  where  it  is  used  of  a  lion,  and  rendered  in  EVV. 
'  rending  in  pieces.' 

the  prey.  Properly,  *  what  is  torn,'  as  ii.  13  and  frequently 
(cf.  the  cognate  verb  'tear'  in  Ps.  vii.  2).  This  word  and 
'  rapine'  show  that  the  figure  of  ii.  11  f.  is  still  in  the  prophet's 
mind  :  Nineveh  is  like  a  lions'  den  full  of  torn  prey.  The 
inscriptions  of  the  Assyrian  kings  abound  with  descriptions  of  the 


NAHUM  3.  3,  4.    N  37 

noise  of  the  rattling  of  wheels ;  and  pransing  horses,  and 
jumping  chariots ;  the  horseman  ^mounting,  and  the  3 
flashing  sword,  and  the  glittering  spear ;  and  a  multitude 
of  slain,  and  a  great  heap  of  carcases  :  and  there  is  none 
end  of  the  corpses ;  they  stumble  upon  their  corpses  : 
because  of  the  multitude  of  the  whoredoms  of  the  well  4 
f-ivoured  harlot,  the  mistress  of  witchcrafts,  that  selleth 

*  Or,  charging 

endless  booty  which  they  took  year  after  year  from  conquered 
nations. 

2-3.  A  graphic  description  of  the  chariots  and  horsemen  of  the 
foe,  forcing  their  way  through  the  streets,  and  spreading  carnage 
as  they  go.     The  series  of  exclamations,  as  ii.  10. 

2.  pransing'.     Cf.  Jud.  v.  22. 

jumping-.  So  rapidly,  viz.,  do  they  advance  over  the  uneven 
ground.     Cf.  Joel  ii.  5,  where  the  same  word  is  rendered  '  leap.' 

3.  mounting-.  The  marg.  charging  is  much  preferable,  the 
verb  being  causative  {lit.  <  bringing  up,'  viz.  the  horse)  :  so  Jer.  Ii. 
27  (RV.  '  cause  the  horses  to  come  up  ').  The  sword  and  spear 
which  follow  are  those  of  the  foot-soldiers. 

4.  The  reason  why  this  doom  falls  upon  Nineveh.  Whoredom 
is  here  used  figuratively  of  the  deceptive  friendship  and  specious 
promises  by  which  the  Assyrians  beguiled  the  smaller  states,  so 
as  to  get  them  into  their  power.  Nineveh  is  called  by  the 
opprobrious  term  harlot,  because,  being  externally  attractive  ('  well- 
favoured*)  and  plausible,  she  by  these  methods  lured  the  nations 
to  their  ruin,  merely  in  order  to  benefit  and  aggrandize  herself^. 

well  favoured:  i.e.  'beautiful,'  —  'favour'  in  Old  English 
having  the  meaning  of  appearance,  aspect,  countenance  (as  in 
Shakespeare,  Cymb.  v.  5,  93  '  Wis  favour  \s  familiar  to  me')  2. 
So  Gen.  xxix.  17,  xxxix.  6,  xli.  2,  and  elsewhere,  in  both  AV.  and 
RV.  The  allusion  will  be  to  the  beauty  and  magnificence  of 
the  city,  which  dazzled  and  fascinated  beholders. 

the  mistress  of  witchcrafts  :    or,  of  '  sorceries '  (cf.  Is.  xlvii. 

^  The  terms  'whoredom,'  *  harlot,'  'go  a- whoring,'  are  commonly 
used  in  a  figurative  sense  of  infidelity  to  Yahweh,  and  especially  of 
the  desertion  of  Him  for  other  gods  (as  Ex.  xxxiv.  15,  16)  ;  but  this 
will  not  be  the  meaning  here,  where  the  reference  is  to  a  heathen 
state. 

^  See  further  examples  in  Aldis  Wright's  Bible  Word-booky  s.  v. 
*  To  favour '  is  still  used  in  many  parts  of  England  in  the  sense  of  to 
seem,  appear  (Jos.  Wright's  Eng.  Dialect  Diet.,  s.  v.). 


38  NAHUM  3.  5-7.     N 

nations  through  her  whoredoms,  and  famihes  through  her 

5  witchcrafts.  Behold,  I  am  against  thee,  saith  the  Lord 
of  hosts,  and  I  will  discover  thy  skirts  ^  upon  thy  face ; 
and   I   will   shew  the  nations   thy  nakedness,  and  the 

6  kingdoms  thy  shame.  And  I  will  cast  abominable  filth 
upon  thee,  and  make  thee  vile,  and  will  set  thee  as  a 

7  gazingstock.     And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  all  they  that 

*  Or,  before 

9  ;  and  '  sorcerers  '  in  Mai.  iii.  5).  The  reference  is  to  '  the  arts  of 
statecraft,  the  influences  used  upon  the  nations,  which  acted  on 
them  like  the  charms  and  incantations  and  drugs  of  the  sorceress ' 
(Davidson). 

selletlx  :  i.  e.  betrays  them,  robs  them  of  their  liberty,  brings 
them  into  slavery  to  itself. 

families.  In  a  wide  ^txi%^  =  nations^  as  Gen.  xii.  3  ;  Am.  iii. 
I,  2  ;  Jer.  i.  15,  al. 

5.  Behold,  I  am  ag-ainst  thee.     As  ii.  14. 

and  I  will  uncover  thy  skirts  (or  train)  before  thy  face. 
Cf.  the  very  similar  expressions  in  Jer.  xiii.  22  (read  *  uncovered  '), 
26  (read  '■  strip  off .  .  .  before').  The  allusion  is  probably  to  the 
practice  of  exposing  a  woman  convicted  of  unchastity  (cf.  Ez.  xvi. 
37  ;  Hos.  ii.  3)  :  Nineveh  has  acted  as  a  harlot,  and  must  receive 
the  punishment  of  a  harlot.  '  Before  thy  face '  means,  as  a  dis- 
grace which  thou  must  witness  thyself.  '  Discover '  here  in 
AV.,  RV.  is  an  archaism,  meaning  to  '  remove  what  served  as 
a  covering,'  which  occurs  also  in  AV.  of  Jer.  xiii.  22,  26  (where 
it  is  retained  in  RV.  as  here).  Job  xli.  13  (RV.  '  strippeth  off'), 
Ps.  xxix.  9  (RV.  *  strippeth  bare  '),  Is.  xxii.  8  (RV.  <  took  away '). 

thy  nakedness  and  .  .  .  thy  shame  :  i.  e.  (dropping  the 
figure)  thy  humiliation  at  the  hands  of  the  conqueror. 

6.  Further  stages  in  the  humiliation  of  Nineveh, 
abominable  filth.     The   rendering  is  unnecessarily  strong. 

The  Heb.  is  detestable  things,  which  commonly  means  idols  or 
things  connected  with  idolatry  (cf.  on  Zech.  ix.  7)  :  here  the 
meaning  is  more  general,  loathsome  thingfs. 

make  thee  vile.  Rather,  'treat  thee  with  contumely'  or 
'  disgrace  thee '  :  cf.  Dt.  xxxii.  15  (RV.  *  lightly  esteemed '), 
Jer.  xiv.  21  ('  disgrace  '),  Mic.  vii.  6  (' dishonoureth'). 

set  thee  as  a  gfazingstock :  to  be  looked  at  with  derision. 
Cf.  Ez.  xxviii.  17  end\  and  the  inscription  of  Mesha,  1.  12  (see 
DB.  iii.  407*;  EB.  iii.  3045 f.) :  'And  I  slew  all  the  people  from 
the  city  (Ataroth),  &  gasingstock  unto  Chemosh  and  unto  Moab.' 


NAHUM  3.  8.     N  30 

look  upon  thee  shall  flee  from  thee,  and  say,  Nineveh  is 
laid  waste :  who  will  bemoan  her  ?  whence  shall  I  seek 
comforters  for  thee  ?  Art  thou  better  than  No-amon,  that 

7.  All  that  see  her  will  flee  from  her  in  horror  and  aversion ; 
none  will  pity  her  ;  all  will  be  only  too  ready  to  rejoice  at^  her  fall. 

bemoan  (better,  conuniserate, — nitd  does  not  imply  the  idea 
of  'moaning')  .  .  .  comforters.     Cf.  Is.  li.  19  ;  Job  ii.  11. 

8-10.  Has  Nineveh  any  reason  to  expect  a  better  fate  than  No 
(Thebes)  in  Egypt,  which,  in  spite  of  the  god  who  was  its  protector, 
and  its  strong  material  defences,  had  been  taken  by  Asshurbanipal 
some  fifty  years  before  (b.  c.  663)  ^  ? 

8.  Art  thou  better  ?    i.  e.  better  placed  and  protected, 
No-amou.     Rather,  No  of  Amon,  or  Amou's  No.    Amon  (or 

Ammon)  was  the  name  of  the  tutelary  god  of  No,  in  whose 
honour  had  been  built  the  immense  temple,  with  its  fajades, 
columns,  and  huge  hypostyle  hall  covering  more  than  an  acre  of 
ground,  which  is  still  the  wonder  of  Karnak.  The  expression 
thus  suggests  that  No  was  specially  under  Amon's  protection  "^ 
*  No  *  is  the  Egyptian  Net,  '  city '  ;  and  the  city  here  referred  to  was 
called  by  the  Egyptians  (see  DB.  s.v.)  sometimes  N,t  rsJ,  'southern 
city,'  sometimes  N.t  Ymn,  'city  of  Amon,'  as  here,  sometimes 
simply  A'l^,  the  *  city  ^ par  excellence  (so  Jer.  xlvi.  25  ;  Ez.  xxx.  14', 
15  ^,  16).  By  the  Greeks  it  was  called  Thebes  :  it  was  the  great 
and  celebrated  capital  of  Upper  Egypt,  situated  far  up  the  Nile 
(some  400  miles  above  Cairo),  in  the  centre  of  a  broad  green  plain, 
into  which  the  Nile-valley  here  expands,  the  capital  of  the  brilliant 
rulers  of  the  18th,  19th,  and  20th  dynasties,  who  constructed 
there  the  great  temples,  with  their  halls,  colonnades,  colossal 
statues,  obelisks,  and  sculptures,  on  a  scale  of  imposing  magnifi- 
cence, to  which  there  is  probably  no  parallel  in  the  world.  The 
city  proper  lay  on  the  E.  bank  of  the  Nile — here  a  stream  nearly 
half  a  mile  broad,  which,  just  at  Thebes,  broadens  out  so  as  to 
enclose  three  islands — the  extensive  ruins  of  Luxor  and  Karnak 
(one  and  a  half  miles  N.  E.  of  Luxor)  marking  its  site  ;  there  was 
a  suburb  (now  Kurnah)  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  but  this 
consisted  chiefly  of  an  immense  necropolis,  there  being  in  front 
a  long  row  of  temples  devoted  to  the  worship  of  former  kings, 
and  behind  them  thousands  of  tombs  (many  of  which  have  recently 
been  excavated),  hewn  out  in  the  gorges  and  rocky  sides  of  the 

*  See  particulars  above,  p.  6. 

'  The  mediaeval  Jews  identified  Anion  here  with  the  Hebrew 
hamdn,  'multitude  ' :  hence  the  rendering  of  AV.  'populous  No.' 

^  Where  notice  in  the  Hebrew  for  *  multitude '  {hamdn)  the  play 
upon  *  Amon.' 


40  NAHUM  3.  9.     N 

was  situate  among  the  «■  rivers,  that  had  the  waters  round 

about  her ;  whose  rampart  was  ^  the  sea,  and  her  wall 

9  c  was  of  the  sea  ?    Ethiopia  and  Egypt  were  her  strength, 

*  Or,  canals     See  Ex.  vii.  19.  ^  That  is,  the  Nile. 

*^  Some  ancient  versions  have,  was  the  ivaiers. 

Libyan  hills  ^.  The  comparison  is  the  more  apposite,  as  Thebes 
had  been  the  capital  of  great  conquering  dynasties,  who  had 
beautified  it  from  the  wealth  gained  in  their  wars,  and  erected  in 
it  the  magniloquent  records  of  their  successes,  just  as  the  Assyrian 
kings  had  done  in  Nineveh. 

that  was  situate.  Lit.  '  that  sat '  or  *  dwelt,'  viz.  proudly 
and  securely.  The  city  is  almost  personified  :  cf.  Is.  xlvii. 
8RVm. 

upon  the  rivers.  Render,  upon  the  Wile- streams  (plur.  of 
ye'dr,  the  regular  Hebrew  word  for  the  Nile,  and  usually  denoting 
arms,  or  canals  running  into  it,  as  Ex.  vii.  19).  The  Nile,  as 
remarked  above,  does  divide  into  two  or  three  streams  at  Thebes, 
but  it  may  be  doubted  whether  Nahum  was  aware  of  this  fact. 
Rather,  he  knew  that  Thebes  was  on  the  Nile,  and  he  uses  the 
plural  to  amplify  the  picture. 

rampart.  Heb.  hel,  the  outer,  smaller  wall,  in  front  of  the 
principal  wall :  so  2  S.  xx.  15;  Ps.  xlviii.  13  (RV.  'bulwarks'). 
Lam.  ii.  8  al. 

the  sea:  i.  e.  the  Nile,  as  Is.  xviii.  2,  xix.  5  ;  Job  kli.  31. 

and  her  wall  was  from  the  sea :  i.  e.  consisted  of  the  sea 
(the  Nile).  But  a  simple  change  of  vocalization,  and  her  wall 
was  the  waters,  greatly  improves  the  clause,  and  avoids  the 
repetition  of  the  same  word  'sea.'  The  position  of  the  city  is 
idealized  :  for  the  greater  part  of  its  circumference  Thebes  was  not 
bounded  by  the  Nile  at  all ;  and,  according  to  recent  authorities, 
was  not  protected  by  walls  of  any  kind  '^. 

9.  No  was  defended,  further,  by  the  number  of  gallaht  soldiers 
who  served  in  her  hosts. 

Ethiopia.  Heb.  *  Kush,'  as  always  (e.  g.  Is.  xviii.  i ;  cf. 
Gen.  X.  6).  Kush  (Egypt,  Kash,  Kesh)  was  the  name  of  a  people, 
whose  home  was  on  the  S.  of  Egypt  proper  (S.  of  the  First 
Cataract,  lat.  24°  N.),  and  whom  the  Egyptian  kings  often  boast 
of  subduing  ;  but  at  the  time  here  referred  to  (663  b.  c),  Kush 
and  Egypt  were  virtually  one,  the  kings  of  the  twenty-fifth  or 


^  W.  M.  Muller  in  EB.  iii.  3428. 

'  Murray's  Hand-book  to  Egypt  (ed.  10,  by  Mary  Brodrick,  1900), 
col.  776. 


NAHUM  3.  lo,  ir.     N  41 

and  it  was  infinite ;  Put  and  Lubim  were  thy  helpers. 
Yet  was  she  carried  away,  she  went  into  captivity  :  her  10 
young  children  also  were  dashed  in  pieces  at  the  top  of 
all  the  streets  :   and  they  cast  lots  for  her  honourable 
men,  and  all  her  great  men  were  bound  in  chains.     Thou  11 
also  shalt  be  drunken,  thou  shalt  be  hid  ;  thou  also  shalt 

Ethiopian  dynasty  having  been  on  the  throne  of  Egypt,  with  Thebes 
as  their  capital,  since  b.  c.  715. 

Egypt.  The  whole  force  of  the  world-renowned  empire  of 
Egypt  was  at  her  disposal,  and  could  act  as  her  defenders. 

it  was  infinite.  In  the  Heb.  there  was  no  end — the  same 
phrase  which  occurs  in  ii.  9  (Heb.  10),  iii.  3 ;  also  in  Is.  ii.  7 
(twice). 

Put  and  Xiubim.  Peoples  of  N.  Africa,  mentioned  elsewhere 
also  as  contributing  contingents  to  armies.  Put  is  in  Gen.  x.  6 
the  third  '  son '  of  Ham,  next  to  Kush  and  Mizraim  (Egypt) ;  and 
the  Lubim  are  very  probably  the  same  as  the  Lehabun  of  Gen. 
X.  13  (one  of  the  tribes  *  begotten  '  by  Mizraim,  i.  e.  a  tribe  con- 
tiguous to,  or  dependent  on,  Egypt).  Put  is  named  among  the 
mercenaries  of  Tyre  in  Ez.  xxvii.  10 ;  as  serving  in  the  Egyptian 
army  in  Jer.  xlvi.  9  '  Cush  and  Put,  that  handle  the  shield ' 
(cf.  Ez.  XXX.  5)  ;  and  as  forming  part  of  the  hosts  of  Gog  in 
Ez.  xxxviii.  5.  The  Lubim  are  mentioned  otherwise  only  in  very 
late  writers  (2  Ch.  xii.  3,  xvi.  8,  Dan.  xi.  43)  :  they  may  well  be 
the  *  Libyans  '  of  the  classical  authors, 

thy  helpers.  Read,  with  LXX,  'her  helpers.'  No  is 
spoken  of,  both  before  and  afterwards,  in  the  third  person  ;  the 
second  person  {yv.  8%  11)  denotes  Nineveh. 

10.  Yet,  notwithstanding  her  queenly  position,  and  the  hosts  of 
her  defenders,  Thebes  was  taken  by  the  enemy ;  and  her  people 
were  ignominiously  carried  into  exile.  Asshurbanipal  (above,  p.  6) 
speaks  at  length  of  the  spoil  which  was  carried  off  by  him  from 
Thebes ;  but  it  would  hardly  be  inferred  from  the  terms  used  by 
him  that  the  population  as  a  whole  was  taken  into  exile. 

dashed  in  pieces.  According  to  a  barbarous  usage  of  ancient 
warfare  :  cf.  2  K.  viii.  12  ;  Is.  xiii.  16 ;  Hos.  xiii.  16. 

at  the  top  of  all  the  streets.  And  so  in  the  public  view  : 
cf.  Is.  Ii.  20 ;  Lam.  ii.  19,  iv.  i. 

and  they  cast  lots,  «Scc.  Viz.  for  the  nobles  taken  as  captives  : 
cf.  Ob.  II  ;  Joel  iii.  3. 

11-13.  A  similar  fate  will  also  be  Nineveh's. 

11.  Then  Shalt  he  drunken:  viz.  with  the  cup  of  Divine 
wrath,  the  figure  being  descriptive  of  the  stupefaction  produced 
by  some  dire  calamity  :  see  Jer.  xxv.  15,  16,  27  ;  Is.  Ii.   17,  21 


42  NAHUM  3.  12-14.     N 

13  seek  "  a  strong  hold  because  of  the  enemy.  All  thy 
fortresses  shall  be  like  fig  trees  with  the  firstripe  figs  : 
if  they  be  shaken,  they  fall  into  the  mouth  of  the  eater. 

13  Behold,  thy  people  in  the  midst  of  thee  are  women  ;  the 
gates  of  thy  land  are  set  wide  open  unto  thine  enemies  : 

14  the  fire  hath  devoured  thy  bars.  Draw  thee  water  for 
the  siege,  strengthen  thy  fortresses  :  go  into  the  clay,  and 

*  Or,  a  defence  against 

('drunken,  but  not  with  wine'),  22  ;  Ez.  xxiii.  33;  Hab.  ii.  15, 
16 ;  Ps.  Ix.  3 ;  Lam.  iv.  21. 

thou  slialt  be  hid.  Interpreted  to  mean  'thou  shalt  dis- 
appear ; '  but  the  sense  is  a  doubtful  one,  and  the  thought  would 
come  too  early  in  the  description  (see  the  following  clause).  With 
the  change  of  a  letter,  we  could  read  *  thou  shalt  faint'  or  'swoon,' 
prostrated  by  the  disaster  :  cf.  Is.  li.  20  (where  the  context  is 
similar). 

thon  also  slialt  seek  (viz.  in  vain)  a  strongr  hold  (or  place 
of  refng-e  ^ :  cf.  Is.  xxx.  2^  R Vm. )  from  the  enemy.  Fleeing,  viz. , 
before  him. 

12.  The  fortresses  of  Nineveh — i.  e.  probably,  the  forts  and 
watch-towers,  which,  as  existing  mounds  seem  to  show,  guarded 
the  approach  to  the  capital — arc  compared  to  fig-trees  with  early 
figs  upon  them,  which,  when  the  trees  are  shaken,  fall  into  the 
mouth  of  the  eater ;  a  figure  of  the  ease  with  which  they  will 
be  taken  by  the  besiegers.  For  early,  or  first-ripe,  figs,  which 
were  accounted  a  delicacy,  cf.  Is.  xxviii.  4,  Mic.  vii.  i. 

13.  All  the  defences  of  Nineveh  will  fail  her. 

are  women :  i.  e.  feeble,  powerless  to  resist  the  foe  :  cf. 
Is.  xix.  16 ;  Jer.  1.  37,  li.  30. 

the  grates  of  thy  land.  The  mountain -passes,  or  other 
approaches  of  the  country,  defended  very  probably  by  fortresses. 
Cf.  such  expressions  as  the  '  Caspian  Gates,'  the  *  Caucasian 
Gates,'  &c. 

thy  bars.  Either  lit.  the  bars  of  the  gates  of  these  fortresses, 
or  fig.  the  bars  of  these  '  gates,'  or  mountain-passes,  i.  e.  the 
fortresses  themselves  (Hitz.,  Keil,  Now.). 

14.  Let  Nineveh,  then,  the  country  being  thus  open  to  the  foe, 
prepare  for  the  siege. 

go  into  the  clay,  &c.  :  i.  e.  make  bricks  to  repair  old  forti- 
fications, or  to  construct  new  ones. 

^  The  Hebrew  word  may  be  derived  either  from  WS,  to  be  strong, 
or  from  w,  to  flee  for  refuge  (see  Is.  xxx.  2  RVm. ;  Jer.  iv.  6,  vi.  i ). 


NAHUM  3.  15,  16.     N  43 

tread  the  mortar,  ^make  strong  the  brickkiln.     There  15 
shall  the  fire  devour  thee  ;  the  sword  shall  cut  thee  off, 
it  shall  devour  thee  like  the  cankervvorm  :  make  thyself 
many  as  the  cankerworm,   make  thyself  many  as  the 
locust.     Thou  hast  multiplied  thy  merchants  above  the  16 

*  Or,  lay  hold  of  the  brickmould 

make  strong  tlie  brickkiln.  RVm.  lay  hold  of  the  brick- 
mould  is  preferable  (see  the  writer's  Notes  on  the  Hebrew  Text  of 
Samuelj  on  2  S.  xii.  31). 

15-18.  But  her  preparations  will  be  in  vain :  the  multitudes  of 
Nineveh,  though  they  may  be  as  numerous  as  locusts,  will  also 
disperse  as  rapidly  as  locusts ;  and  her  warriors  will  be  laid  low 
in  the  dust. 

15.  There,  within  thy  strong  defences,  will  the  fire  devour 
the  city,  and  the  sword  cut  off  her  inhabitants. 

it  shall  devour  thee  like  the  young-  locust.  As  easily  and 
quickly  as  the  young  locust  devours  grass  and  herbage.  But  the 
clause  is  rather  redundant,  and  (with  the  'young  locust'  following, 
in  a  different  connexion)  weak ;  and  Wellh.  may  be  right  in 
regarding  the  two  words  of  which  (in  the  Hebrew)  it  consists  as 
a  gloss,  suggested  by  the  context,  on  '  devour '  just  before. 

the  yotmg'  locust  (Heb.  yelek,  properly,  as  it  seems,  the 
lapper)  is  very  probably  the  locust  in  its  second  or  pupa  stage 
of  growth  :  see  on  v.  16. 

make  thyself  many  as  the  youngf  locust,  &c.  The  two 
imperatives  are  meant  ironically  (cf.  the  imperatives  in  i  K.  ii.  22; 
Am.  iv.  4)  :  '  though  thou  make  thyself  many  as  the  young  locust, 
&c.,  it  will  be  of  no  avail :  all  will  vanish  away  before  the  enemy.' 
*  Many'  (twice)  is  ht.  'heavy,'  i.  e.  a  vast,  compact  mass*. 

16*.  The  allusion  is  to  Nineveh's  having  been  a  great  com- 

^  vv.  14-16  are  much  improved  if,  with  Wellhausen,  we  redivide 
them  and,  omitting  a  letter  in  v.  16°",  get  an  imperative,  'make 
thyself  many,'  parallel  to  the  two  preceding  Imperatives  : — 

'  Draw  thee  water  for  the  siege,  strengthen  thy  fortresses. 
Go  into  the  clay,  and  tread  the  mortar,  lay  hold  of  the  brick- 
mould  : 
There  shall  the  fire  devour  thee,  the  sword  shall  cut  thee  off. 

Make  thyself  many  as  the  young  locust, 

Make  thyself  many  as  the  locust. 

Multiply  thy  merchants  above  the  stars  of  heaven; 

The  young  locust  strippeth  itself,  and  flieth  away ! ' 


44  NAHUM  3.  I^     N 

stars  of  heaven :  the  cankerworm  ^  spoileth,  and  flieth 
17  away.     Thy  crowned  are  as  the  locusts,  and  thy  ^mar- 
*  Or,  spread eth  himself  ^  Or,  scribes 

mercial  centre  :  caravan  routes  between  E.  and  W.  met  there  ; 
the  river  was  another  great  channel  of  communication  ;  and  her 
native  manufactures  were  also  celebrated  (see  further  Dr.  Pusey's 
note  on  this  passage). 

the  stars  of  lieaven.  A  figure  of  a  countless  multitude  : 
Ex.  xxxii.  13;  Dt.  i.  xoal. 

16^.  The  young'  locust  strippeth  itself',  and  flieth,  away. 
The  locust,  when  in  its  pupa  stage,  is  able  only  to  hop,  its  wings 
being  enclosed  in  rough  horny  sheaths  (cf.  Jer.  li.  27  '  as  the 
rough  yelek ')  :  these,  after  about  a  month,  it  strips  off,  and  then, 
being  now  the  complete  insect,  it  mounts  quickly  into  the  air,  and 
flies  away  '^.  The  rapidity  with  which  a  swarm  of  such  locusts 
flies  off  is  here  a  symbol  of  the  rapidity  with  which  the  busy 
merchant  population  of  Nineveh  will  melt  away. 

17.  Thy  crowned.  The  Heb.  word  occurs  only  here,  and 
its  meaning  is  uncertain.  If  the  consonantal  text  is  correct,  this 
rendering  may  be  retained  (though  it  would  be  better  to  change 
the  points^),  the  allusion  being  then  to  the  diadem,  or  head-band, 
worn  by  the  grand  vizier*,  and  perhaps  by  other  high  Assyrian 
officers  of  state.  Or  the  word  (with  the  same  change  of  punctua- 
tion) might  mean  thy  separated  (or  consecrated)  ones,  i.e.  thy  princes 
or  nobles  (cf.  nastr,  so  rendered  in  Lam.  iv.  6  RV,,  and  RVm. 
of  Gen.  xlix.  26  =  Dt.  xxxiii.  16).  But  the  possibility  cannot 
be  excluded  that  it  is  the  Hebraized  (or  corrupted)  form  of  some 
native  Assyrian  title  (cf.  the  next  note). 

thy  marshals.  Heb,  tiphsar,  found  besides  only  in  Jer.  li.  37. 
No  doubt  the  Assyrian  dupsarru,  properly,  tablet-writer,  a  very 
common  word  for  scride  (e.  g.  the  scribe  of  a  contract  or  other 
deed),  used  here,  it  seems,  of  a  military  official,  the  muster-master, 
or  '  marshal,'  of  an  army  ;  cf.  the  Heb.  sopher,  '  scribe,'  in  a  similar 
application,  Jud.  v.  14  (see  RVm.). 


'  RV.  text  (  =  AV.)  gives  to  the  Hebrew  verb  used  a  sense  borne 
only  by  the  causative  conjugation  ;  RVm.  is  a  sense  found  only  in 
connexion  with  an  army  making  a  marauding  Incursion  (e.  g.  i  S. 
xxiii.  27  *  make  a  raid  '). 

^  See  Tristram,  Natural  History  of  the  Bible,  p.  30S ;  or  the 
writer's  Joel  and  Amos  (in  the  Cambridge  Bible),  p.  85. 

°  ^T>^2p  for  '^.':;2'?. 

*  See  Rawlinson,  Anc.  Monarchies,  i.  499  f .  (with  illustrations). 


NAHUM  3.  18.     N  45 

shals  as  the  swarms  of  grasshoppers,   which  camp   in 
the  a  hedges  in  the  cold  day,  but  when  the  sun  arrseth 
they  flee  away,  and  their  place  is  not  known  where  they 
are.     Thy  shepherds  slumber,  O  king  of  Assyria :   thy  ] 
*  Or,  tvalls 

as  tlie  swarms  of  ^asshoppers.  'As  grasshoppers \* 
Another  of  the  many  Heb.  synonyms  for  '  locust^,'  some  of  which, 
it  seems  probable,  denote  different  species,  and  others  the  same 
species  in  different  stages  of  its  development.  The  usual  word  is 
arbch  (v.  15  end,  v.  17  beginning)  :  this  word  (gobai)  occurs  besides 
only  Am.  vii.  i,  and  in  the  plural,  differently  pointed  (gebim), 
Is.  xxxiii.  4  ^.  As  we  have  in  English  only  one  word  for  '  locust,* 
we  are  compelled  to  represent  gobai  here,  inexactly,  by  'grass- 
hoppers.' 

which  camp  on  the  waUs  (RVm.),  &c.  :  i.e.  the  stonewalls 
surrounding  a  field,  especially  one  in  which  sheep  were  kept : 
Nu.  xxxii.  16,  24  ;  Zeph.  ii.  6  al.  ('  folds ')  *. 

where  they  are  :  i.  e.  to  which  they  have  fled.  Locusts  are 
benumbed  by  cold,  their  wings  becoming  cramped  and  stiff. 
Thomson  {Land  and  Book,  p.  418  of  the  one-vol.  edition), 
describing  the  advance  of  a  swarm  of  locusts,  says  that  in  the 
evenings  they  literally  'camped'  in  the  hedges  and  loose  stone 
walls,  covering  them  like  a  swarm  of  bees  settled  on  a  bush  : 
if  the  next  day  was  warm,  they  resumed  their  march,  but  if  it  was 
cold,  the  majority  did  not  move  at  all,  and  those  that  did  move 
crept  along  very  slowly  and  heavily.  Like  the  locusts  which, 
after  a  cold  night,  fly  off  as  soon  as  the  sun  begins  to  warm  them, 
so  will  the  Assyrian  leaders  vanish  from  Nineveh. 

18.  Thy  shepherds.  Fig.  of  leaders  and  rulers,  as  often  in 
Jer.  (e.g.  ii.  8,  xxiii.  i,  2,  4),  and  in  Ez.  xxxiv,  the  people  being 
frequently  at  the  same  time  represented  as  sheep  (cf.  here  'are 
scattered  upon  the  mountains  '). 

slumber.  In  death :  cf.  Ps.  Ixxvi.  5  (<  they  slumber  their 
sleep');  also  Jer.  Ii.  39,  57;   Ps.  xii.  3. 

^  The  Heb.  is  gob  gobai,  and  '  swarms  of  in  RV.  (like  '  great ' 
in  AV.)  is  an  attempt  to  express  gob ;  but  the  word  has  no  such 
meaning,  and  it  is  evident  that  it  has  simply  arisen  from  the  gob  of 
gobai  having  been  accidentally  written  twice  over  by  error. 

^  See  the  writer's  Joel  and  Amos,  pp.  85  f. 

^  It  is  found  also  in  the  Aramaic  of  the  Targums. 

*  This,  and  not  *  hedge,'  is  the  meaning  of  g^derdh  :  cf.  '  build ' 
in  Nu.  II.  cc.  The  masc.  gdder  is  used  of  a  wall  surrounding  a 
vineyard,  Nu.  xxii.  24  j   Is.  v.  5. 


46  NAHUM  3.  19.     N 

worthies  are  at  rest :  thy  people  are  scattered  upon  the 
19  mountains,  and  there  is  none  to  gather  them.  There  is 
no  assuaging  of  thy  hurt ;  thy  wound  is  grievous  :  all  that 
hear  the  bruit  of  thee  clap  the  hands  over  thee ;  for 
upon  whom  hath  not  thy  wickedness  passed  continually  ? 

thy  worthies  :  cf.  ii.  5. 

are  at  rest.  A  doubtful  paraphrase,  shdkhan  meaning  to 
dwell  in  a  place,  and,  used  absolutely,  to  abide  or  continue  (as  Ps. 
cii.  28)  but  hardly  (in  spite  of  Ps.  Iv.  6  [Heb.])  to  'abide  stiU: 
We  should  doubtless,  omitting  one  letter,  read  sleep. 

are  scattered  S  &c.  The  fig.  of  a  flock  underlies  the  expres- 
sions used :  cf.  i  K.  xxii.  17,  Ez.  xxxiv.  6. 

19.  Nineveh's  ruin  is  irreparable  ;  and  there  is  none  who  will 
not  exult  over  her  fall. 

assuag-ing".  The  Heb.  hehah  cannot  have  this  meaning-; 
read  probably  gehdh,  healingf  (Prov.  xvii.  22  '  medicine,'  RVm. 
*  healing'). 

thy  hurt.  Properly,  thy  breach,  i.  e.,  as  we  should  say,  thy 
wound.  Cf.  Am.  vi.  6  (AV.  and  RV.,  discarding  the  figure, 
'afiliction ') ;  and  especially  in  Jen,  as  vi.  14  (RVm.),  viii.  21, 
X.  19  ('Woe  is  me  for  my  breach  (wound) !  my  stroke  is  grievous '), 
xiv.  17  (*  the  virgin  daughter  of  my  people  is  broken  with  a  great 
6;vrtc/»,  with  a  very  grievous  stroke  '),  xxx.  12  {^ihy  breach  (wound) 
is  desperate,  thy  stroke  grievous  ')  ;  Lam.  ii.  13. 

thy  wound  is  grievous.  Better,  thy  stroke  is  grievous 
(lit.  made  sick) :  cf.  Jer.  x.  19,  xiv.  17,  xxx.  12,  just  quoted. 

bruit.  An  archaism  for  *  report '  (Fr.  bruit,  *  noise '),  very 
common  in  writers  of  the  sixteenth  century.  See  in  AV.  Jer.  x.  22, 
2  Mace.  iv.  39,  viii.  7  ;  Troilus  and  Cressida,  v.  9.  4  '  the  bruit  is. 
Hector 's  slain,  and  by  Achilles ' ;  and  cf.  Aldis  Wright's  Bible 
Word-book  s.  v. 

clap  the  hands.  In  exultation  (Ps.  xlvii.  i),  and  derision 
(Ez.  XXV.  6,  where,  however,  the  Heb.  word  for  'clap'  is  not  the 
same). 

^  Read    1SC3  (as  i  K.  xxii.  17,  &c.),  for  the  unknown  VCC3. 

'  kahdh  is  to  be  dim,  as  of  the  eye.  Gen.  xxvii.  i  ;  of  a  plague- 
spot,  Lev.  xiii.  6:  but  'dimness'  is  a  strange  word  to  use  for  the 
assuaging  of  a  wound. 


HABAKKUK 

INTRODUCTION 

AND 

REVISED   VERSION   WITH   ANNOTATIONS 


HABAKKUK 

INTRODUCTION 

§  I.  The  Person  of  Habakkuk. 

Of  Habakkuk's  *  personal  life  nothing  is  known  with 
certainty,  though  it  has  been  inferred,  from  the  fact  that 
he  is  termed  specifically  'the  prophet,'  that  he  held 
a  recognized  position  as  prophet  (i.  I,  iii.  i),  and  from 
the  expression  'on  my  stringed  instruments'  (iii.  19), 
that  he  was  a  member  of  the  temple  choir,  and  belonged, 
consequently,  to  the  tribe  of  Levi.  The  first  of  these 
inferences  is  a  possible  one,  though  it  does  not  add  much 
to  our  knowledge  of  Habakkuk.  The  second  is  doubtful, 
if  only  on  account  of  the  uncertainty  attaching  to  the 
pronoun  *my,'  which  is  against  the  analogy  of  other 
similar  notices  (Pss.  iv,  v,  &c.),  and  which  moreover, 
even  if  correct,  may  refer  not  to  the  author  of  the  ode 
but  to  the  worshipping  congregation. 

Although,  however,  little  is  thus  to  be  learnt  of 
Habakkuk  from  the  Old  Testament  itself,  later  Jewish 
Haggadah  had  much  to  tell  of  him.  The  most  widely 
diffused  legend  about  Habakkuk,  often,  for  example,  re- 
ferred to  by  the  Fathers,  is  that  found  in  Bel  and  the 
Dragon  {vv.  33  ff.),  according  to  which  the  prophet,  while 
carrying  pottage  to  his  reapers,  was  suddenly  directed  by 
an  angel  to  carry  it  to  Daniel,  who  had  been  cast  a  second 
time,  by  Cyrus^  into  the  lions'  den  in  Babylon :    upon 

1  The  form  of  the  name  is  peculiar,  and  its  meaning  is 
uncertain. 


50  HABAKKUK 

protesting  that  he  had  never  seen  Babylon,  and  did  not 
know  where  the  den  was,  he  was  Hfted  up  miraculously 
by  a  lock  of  his  hair  (cf.  Ez.  viii.  3),  and  carried  through 
the  air  to  Babylon ;  having  there  provided  Daniel  with 
his  repast,  he  was  immediately  taken  back  by  the  angel 
to  his  own  place.  In  the  Codex  Chisianus  of  the  LXX  ^, 
the  story  of  Bel  and  the  Dragon  is  prefaced  by  the  words 
fK  7rpo(jir)Tclas  'A/x/3a/cou/i  vtoO'l);(roi;,e*c  riji  (jivX^s  Aevi,  showing 
both  that  the  story  was  taken  from  an  apocryphal  work 
attributed  to  Habakkuk  and  also  that  the  prophet  was 
described  in  it  as  the  son  of  Jesus  (i.e.  Joshua,  or  Jeshua), 
and  of  the  tribe  of  Levi.  What  authority  there  may  have 
been  for  the  statement  about  his  father  we  do  not  know : 
the  description  of  him  as  belonging  to  the  tribe  of  Levi 
may  be  merely  an  inference  from  the  expression  in  iii.  19, 
quoted  above.  According  to  the  Lzves  of  the  Prophets, 
which,  in  two  recensions,  are  attributed  respectively  to 
Dorotheus,  Bishop  of  Tyre  {d.  362),  and  Epiphanius 
{d.  403),  he  was  of  the  tribe  of  Simeon,  e|  dypoO  B»;^i  toO 
Kup  (Epiph.  c|  ciypoi)  Bj^^^o^^p),  which  Delitzsch  thinks 
may  be  the  Beth-Zachariah  of  i  Mace.  vi.  32,  33,  the 
modern  Beit-Sakariyeh,  ten  miles  SW.  of  Jerusalem, 
though  this,  it  is  true,  would  be  not  in  Simeon,  but  in 
Judah.  In  the  same  'Lives'  it  is  further  stated 
that  when  Nebuchadnezzar  advanced  against  Jerusalem, 
Habakkuk  fled  to  Ostrakine  (now  Straki),  on  the  Egyptian 
coast,  twenty-six  miles  W.  of  the  Rhinocorura,  but  that, 
after  the  Chaldaeans  had  withdrawn,  he  returned  to  his 
own  land,  where  he  died  and  was  buried,  two  years  before 
the  return  of  the  Jews  from  Babylon  in  537.  Eusebius, 
in  his  Onomasticon,  states  in  one  place  (p.  346)  that  his 
tomb  was  shown  at  Gabatha  (Gibeah),  elsewhere  (pp.  256, 
270),  that  it  was  shown  at  Echelah,  or  Keeila  (Keilah) — 
twelve  and  eighteen  miles,  respectively,  SW.  of  Jerusalem. 
What  value  all  these  statements  possess  we  do  not  know. 

*  Swete,  The  O.  T.  in  Greek,  vol.  iii,  pp.  xii,  586. 


INTRODUCTION  51 

§  2.  Date  of  Habakkuk,  and  Contents  of  his 

Prophecy. 
Habakkuk  prophesied  most  probably  about  600  B.C. 
The  times  were  anxious  ones  ;  and  the  perplexities  and 
questionings  to  which  they  gave  rise  are  reflected  in  his 
prophecy.  Twenty-one  years  had  elapsed  since  the 
discovery  of  Deuteronomy  in  the  temple  in  the  eighteenth 
year  of  Josiah  (B.C.  621),  and  nine  since  the  death  of 
Josiah  at  Megiddo  (609),  when  he  went  to  oppose  Pharaoh- 
Necho  in  his  effort  to  annex  all  Syria  as  far  as  the 
Euphrates  to  his  dominion.  Jehoahaz,  Josiah's  third  son, 
upon  whom  the  popular  choice  fell  as  his  successor,  after 
a  three  months'  reign — in  the  course  of  which,  it  may  be 
presumed,  he  had  pursued  an  anti-Egyptian  policy — was 
summoned  by  Necho  to  appear  before  him  at  Riblah  (on 
the  Orontes),  only  to  be  thrown  there  into  chains,  and 
carried  away  into  Egypt,  while  a  heavy  fine  was  imposed 
upon  Judah.  His  elder  brother  Eliakim  was  then  put 
on  the  throne,  his  name  being  changed  by  the  Pharaoh 
to  Jehoiakim.  Jehoiakim  was  a  selfish  and  tyrannical 
ruler.  At  a  time  when  the  country  was  impoverished  by 
the  collection  of  the  tribute  imposed  by  Necho  he 
developed  a  passion  for  regal  magnificence  ;  as  Jeremiah 
tells  us  (xxii.  13-17),  he  built  by  the  forced,  but  unpaid, 
labour  of  his  subjects  a  spacious  palace  '  panelled  with 
cedar,  and  painted  with  vermilion ' ;  he  moreover  abused 
his  position  to  indulge  in  the  common  vices  of  an  Oriental 
despot — his  eyes  and  his  heart  were  set  only  'upon 
dishonest  gain,  and  for  to  shed  innocent  blood,  and  for 
oppression  and  for  violence,  for  to  do  it.'  Nor  were  such 
crimes  confined  to  the  king.  As  allusions  in  Jeremiah  show 
clearly,  the  reformation  of  Josiah  (620)  had  affected  the 
masses  only  superficially  :  though  there  were  still  faithful 
souls  left,  lawlessness,  injustice,  dishonesty,  and  oppression 
were  only  too  rife  in  the  nation  at  large,  and  idolatry 
was  widely  and  openly  practised  (Jer.  xi.  10  fif.,  xiv.  7, 
E  2 


52  Hx\BAKKUK 

IO-I2,  20;  perhaps  also  vii.  5-11).  Meanwhile,  political 
movements  of  importance  had  been  taking  place  in  the 
East.  In  625*  Nabopolassar,  a  man  of  enterprise  and 
energy,  had  become  ruler  of  Babylon  ;  and  though  at  first 
nominally  viceroy  under  the  suzerainty  of  Assyria,  he  had 
in  612  or  611,  if  not  before,  declared  his  independence. 
A  year  or  two  afterwards  Sin-shar-ishkun,  the  last  king 
of  Nineveh,  invaded  Babylonia  for  thepurposeof  recovering 
his  supremacy ;  but  the  Umman-manda  (p.  10),  called  in 
by  Nabopolassar  to  assist  him,  overran  Assyria  and  laid 
Nineveh  in  ruins  (607).  In  605  Necho,  again  endeavouring 
to  assert  his  claim  to  the  country  west  of  the  Euphrates, 
sustained  a  crushing  defeat  at  Carchemish,  on  the  upper 
course  of  the  Euphrates,  at  the  hands  of  Nebuchadnezzar, 
acting  as  general  for  his  father  Nabopolassar^.  This 
victory  of  Nebuchadnezzar  was  the  turning-point  in  the 
history  of  the  age.  It  meant  that  the  Chaldaeans  were 
destined  to  acquire  supremacy  over  the  whole  of  Western 
Asia.  Jeremiah,  especially,  quickly  perceived  that  this 
was  inevitable :  he  accepted  it  at  once  as  providentially 
intended,  and  counselled  his  people  to  accommodate  them- 
selves to  circumstances,  and  acquiesce  in  a  position  of 
dependence  upon  the  Chaldaeans  (Jer.  xxv,  xlvi).  In 
point  of  fact,  the  countries  west  of  the  Euphrates  probably 
at  once  submitted  =^.  Jehoiakim,  it  is  expressly  stated 
(2  K.  xxiv.  i),  became  Nebuchadnezzar's  servant  for 
'three  years' — though  which  three  years  these  were 
between  605  and  his  death  in  597  is  not  known:  then 
he  '  turned  and  rebelled  against  him.'  The  consequences 
of  Jehoiakim's  revolt  were— first,  the  guerilla  war  men- 
tioned in  2  K.  xxiv.  2  ;   next,  almost  immediately  after 

^  See  above,  p.  9. 

2  Nabopolassar  died  a  month  or  two  after  the  battle  of 
Carchemish,  and  was  succeeded  on  the  throne  by  Nebuchad- 
nezzar (605-561). 

3  Cf.  the  writer's  Daniel  (in  the  Cambridge  Bible),  p.  2,  with 
the  references,  especially  2  K.  xxiv.  7. 


INTRODUCTION  53 

Jehoiachin's  accession  in  597,  a  siege  of  Jerusalem  by  the 
Chaldaeans,  resulting,  in  the  third  month  of  Jehoiachin's 
reign,  in  the  deportation  of  the  king  and  the  dlite  of  the 
capital  to  Babylon ;  and  finally— in  consequence  of 
Zedekiah's  pursuing  the  same  anti-Chaldaean  policy  as 
Jehoiachim,  and  refusing  to  listen  to  Jeremiah's  counsels — 
the  capture  and  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  second 
deportation  of  captives  to  Babylonia,  in  586. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  we  have  not  further  particulars 
of  Nabopolassar's  rule.  Did  we  know  more  of  the  military 
expeditions  in  which  he  was  engaged,  we  might  be  better 
able  to  appreciate  Habakkuk's  allusions  to  the  prowess 
and  conquests  of  the  Chaldaeans.  As  it  is,  almost  the 
only  exploit  of  the  Chaldaeans,  prior  to  the  two  sieges  of 
Jerusalem,  of  which  we  have  actual  information,  is  the 
victory  over  Necho  at  Carchemish.  To  judge  from 
2  K.  xxiv.  I,  the  Chaldaean  arms  were  not  seen  in  Judah 
itself  before  602  B.  c.,— possibly,  indeed,  not  before  598 — 
according  to  the  date  at  which  the  three  years'  vassalage 
mentioned  in  that  verse  terminated.  Our  knowledge  of 
the  times  is  not  minute  enough  to  enable  us  to  fix  dates 
with  precision  :  but  Hab.  i.  5-1 1,  it  is  natural  to  suppose, 
was  written  shortly  after  the  battle  of  Carchemish  in  605 
(so  Davidson),  when  the  first  rumours  of  the  character 
and  military  capacities  of  the  Chaldaeans  reached  Judah, 
but  before  the  formidable  dimensions  which  their  power 
would  shortly  ('  in  your  days,'  v.  5)  assume,  had  yet  been 
realized.  Hab.  i.  12  ff.,  ii,  presupposing  a  time  when  the 
Chaldaeans  had  made  more  conquests,  and  when  men 
had  become  familiarized  with  their  tyrannical  treatment 
of  subject  nations,  may  have  been  written  some  years 
later  (cf.  p.  57),  though  before  the  end  of  the  Chaldaean 
rule  could  be  regarded  as  at  all  immediate,  on  account 
of  ii.  3. 

The  Book  of  Habakkuk  opens  with  a  dialogue  between 
the  prophet  and  his  God  (cf.,  for  the  form,  Jer.  xiv-xv, 
Mic.  vi.  I — vii.  6,  vii.  7-20).     The  prophet  begins  (i.  2-4) 


54  HABAKKUK 

by  complaining  to  Yahweh  for  permitting  lawlessness  and 
social  disorder  to  continue  so  long  unchecked  in  the  land. 
Yahweh  replies  (i.  5-1 1)  by  pointing  to  the  Chaldaeans, 
the  powerful  and  terrible  people  whom  He  is  raising  up 
to  be  the  ministers  of  judgement.  But  the  answer  involves 
a  fresh  perplexity.  How  can  the  pure  and  holy  God 
employ  as  His  instruments  this  proud,  idolatrous  nation, 
which  destroys  the  righteous  with  the  wicked,  and  tramples 
inhumanly,  not  upon  Israel  only,  but  upon  all  the  nations 
of  the  known  world  ?  Is  not  this  the  prevalence  of  wrong 
upon  a  larger  scale  ?  (i.  12-17). 

Habakkuk's  complaint  being  ended,  he  places  himself 
in  imagination  upon  his  prophetic  watch-tower  (cf.  Is.  xxi. 
6),  and  looks  out  to  see  what  answer  he  may  receive  to  it 
(ii.  i).  Yahweh's  answer,  the  significance  of  which  is 
marked  by  the  emphasis  with  which  it  is  introduced,  is 
this  :  The  soul  of  the  Chaldaean  is  elated  with  pride  j  hit 
the  righteous  will  live  by  his  faithfulness^ — i.  e.  by  his 
moral  steadfastness  and  integrity  (ii.  2-4).  The  different 
characters  of  the  Chaldaean  and  of  the  righteous  carry  in 
them  their  different  destinies  :  the  pride  of  the  former,  it 
is  implied  in  particular,  will  prove  in  the  end  his  ruin. 
There  follows  (ii.  5-20)  a  series  of  '  woes,'  in  which  the 
prophet  singles  out,  and  threatens  with  retribution,  the 
crying  sins  of  the  Chaldaeans— their  insatiable  lust  of 
conquest,  the  ruthlessness  with  which  they  plundered  the 
nations,  the  crimes  and  injustice  by  which  they  had 
established  their  empire  and  beautified  their  cities,  their 
savage  triumph  over  the  nations  which  fell  into  their 
power,  and  their  insensate  idolatry. 

Chap,  iii  consists  of  a  lyric  ode,  of  remarkable  sublimity 
and  poetic  force,  in  which  the  poet  first  [v.  2)  entreats 
Yahweh  to  interpose  on  His  people's  behalf,  and  after- 
wards {vv.  3-15)  describes,  as  in  a  vision  {v.  7),  in  an 
imaginative  form,  how  he  pictures  his  prayer  as  being 
answered.  The  prophet  imagines  a  theophany ;  and 
depicts,  in  brilliant  imagery,  Yahweh's  approach  amid 


INTRODUCTION  55 

the  accompaniments  of  a  great  thunderstorm,  from  His 
ancient  seat  in  Edom  (Dt.  xxxiii.  2,  Jud.  v.  4),  and  His 
progress  over  the  earth,  for  the  deliverance  of  His  people 
and  the  discomfiture  of  their  foes.  The  poet  closes 
{vv.  16-19)  with  a  description  of  the  effect  which  the 
vision  of  judgement  wrought  upon  himself:  on  the  one 
hand,  it  filled  him  with  agitation  and  alarm  ;  on  the  other 
hand,  it  evoked  in  him  a  joyous  confidence  that, 
whatever  happened,  Yahweh  would  remain  His  people's 
salvation. 

§  3.   Some  critical  questions  relating  to  the 
Book  of  Habakkuk. 

The  explanation  of  chap,  i  given  above,  and  adopted 
also  in  the  notes,  is  the  usual  one ;  but,  as  even  Davidson 
(p.  46)  admits,  *  there  are  very  great  difficulties  connected 
with  the  exposition  of  the  prophecy  * ;  and  it  is  fair  to 
state  that  it  has  failed  to  satisfy  most  recent  scholars. 
Thus  {a)  whereas  in  i.  5, 6  (*  Behold,  I  am  raising  up,'  &c.), 
the  advent  of  the  Chaldaeans  seems  still  to  lie  in  the 
future,  elsewhere,  and  especially  in  i.  13-17,  ii.  8*,  10, 
17,  the  prophet  describes  their  treatment  of  conquered 
nations,  and  reflects  upon  the  moral  problems  to  which 
this  gave  rise,  in  a  manner  which  seems  to  imply  that 
they  had  been  for  some  time  on  the  stage  of  history ; 
indeed  ii.  17  ('the  violence  done  to  Lebanon  shall  cover 
thee')  plainly  implies  that  their  armies  had  reached 
Palestine.  {b)  If  i.  2-4  be  the  prophet's  complaint 
respecting  wrongdoing  prevalent  in  Judah,  which  (i.  5-11) 
is  to  be  punished  by  the  Chaldaeans,  how  can  he  con- 
sistently complain  of  the  Chaldaeans'  treatment  of  his 
people,  and  pronounce  judgement  upon  them  on  account 
of  it  ?  {c)  We  should  expect  the  subject  of  the  complaint 
in  ii.  I  (the  Chaldaeans'  unjust  treatment  of  Israel)  to 
be  the  same  as  that  of  i.  2-4,  whereas,  upon  the  usual 
explanation  of  i.  2-4  (wrongdoing  in  Israel),  it  is  different. 


56  HABAKKUK 

(d)  The  '  wicked '  and  the  *  righteous '  would  naturally  be 
the  same,  respectively,  in  i.  6  and  i.  13,  whereas  upon 
the  ordinary  interpretation  they  are  the  wicked  and  the 
righteous  in  Israel  in  i.  4,  and  the  Chaldaeans  and  Israel 
[or,  and  the  righteous  generally]  in  i.  13.  Upon  these 
grounds  it  was  argued  by  Giesebrecht  in  1890  that  the 
true  sequel  to  i.  4  was  i.  12,  that  i.  5-1 1  (announcing  the 
advent  of  the  Chaldaeans)  was  a  complete,  independent 
prophecy,  written  before  the  rest  of  chaps,  i-ii,  and  not 
now  in  its  original  place,  and  that  i.  2-4  describes  the 
tyranny  of  the  Chaldaeans  {vv.  2,  3*»  ^,  4^),  and  its  effects 
as  shown  in  the  relaxation  of  law  and  religion  in  Judah 
{y.  4^^), — the  '  wicked '  in  v.  4^  being  now  the  Chaldaeans, 
and  the  'righteous'  Israel.  Wellhausen  and  Nowack 
agree  with  Giesebrecht,  treating  i.  5-1 1  as  the  older 
prophecy,  and  regarding  i.  2,  3».  ^4a»^as  continued  by 
i.  12*  (to  *  mine  Holy  One'^),  13-17,  &c. ;  also,  in  so  far  as 
they  hold  i.  5-1 1  to  be  out  of  place  where  it  now  stands, 
Budde  and  G.  A.  Smith  (see  p.  58). 

There  is  unquestionably  force  in  Giesebrecht's  argu- 
ment ;  and  were  it  not  for  the  interpretation  of  i.  2-4 
which  it  involves,  the  present  writer  would  not  hesitate 
to  accept  his  conclusion.  But  though  the  *  violence  *  &c. 
of  vv.  2,  3  *>^  might  in  the  abstract  denote  the  tyranny  of 
the  Chaldaeans,  how  can  the  *  strife '  and  '  contention ' 
of  V.  3<',  and  the  slack  iorah  and  perverted  judgement  of 
V.  4  *.®,  be  regarded  naturally  as  the  effects  of  it  ?  Nowack, 
feeling  these  difficulties,  follows  Wellhausen  in  expunging 
vv.  3",  4^^  as  glosses,  and  understanding  torah  and 
7nishpdt  mv.  4  *  as  merely  synonyms  for  religion  gene- 
rally (Is.  xlii.  I,  4,  h.  4),  which,  in  consequence  of  the 
Chaldaeans*  triumph  over  Judah,  came  to  be  questioned 
or  rejected.  But  the  excision  of  vv.  3*',  4*^  is  a  violent 
measure  ;   and  Is.  xlii.  i,  4,  li.  4  are  a  doubtful  support 

'  The  rest  of  v.  12  being  rejected  as  a  later  gloss,  interrupting 
the  connexion.      Vv.  s*"  and  4''  ore  also  regarded  as  glosses. 


INTRODUCTION  57 

for  this  generalized  sense  of  tor  ah  and  mishpat.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  is  true  that  i.  5-1 1  does  seem  to  spring  out 
of  a  different  historical  situation  from  i.  13-17,  ii.  5  ff. 
For  those  who  cannot  accept  the  view  just  mentioned, 
perhaps  the  simplest  explanation  of  the  fact  will  be  to 
suppose  that  i.  2-4  (as  ordinarily  understood),  5-1 1  was 
actually  written  by  Habakkuk  before  i.  12  ff. :  the  book,  as 
Kirkpatrick  observes  ^,  *  is  the  fruit  of  religious  reflection, 
and  exhibits  the  communing  and  questioning  of  the  pro- 
phet's soul  with  God,*  which  may  represent  a  prolonged 
mental  struggle,  and  have  extended  over  a  considerable 
time  (notice  the  terms  of  i.  2) :  thus  i.  2-1 1  may  reflect 
the  impression  left  upon  his  mind,  when  he  first  thought 
of  the  Chaldaeans  as  appointed  for  the  punishment  of 
Israel's  sin,  and  i.  12  ff.  may  express  the  perplexity  which 
he  became  conscious  of  afterwards  when  the  character  of 
the  Chaldaeans  became  more  fully  known  to  him.  Other 
suggestions  that  have  been  made  are  (Baudissin,  Einl.  p. 
540)  that  Habakkuk  in  i.  5-1 1  quotes  an  older  prophecy 
of  the  rise  of  the  Chaldaeans,  for  the  purpose  of  thus 
indirectly  pointing  to  the  astonishing  character  of  their 
'  work '  as  Yahweh's  ministers,  although  this  work  when 
he  wrote  was  an  accomplished  fact ;  or  (Kuenen,  Davidson, 
pp.  48,  49  f.,  55 — though  allowing  this  construction  of 
the  book  to  be  somewhat  artificial)  that  the  prophet  (whose 
main  object  is  to  foretell  the_/rt//  of  the  Chaldaeans)  may 
describe  the  moral  cause  of  their  rise  by  dramatically 
representing  it  as  having  been  revealed  to  him  by  Yahweh 
in  the  past.  Any  one  of  these  suppositions  would  remove 
what  is  the  great  difficulty  of  chap,  i,  by  throwing  back 
i.  5-1 1  to  a  date  anterior  to  i.  12  ff.  Nor  does  there  seem 
to  be  any  intrinsic  reason  why  *  righteous '  and  '  wicked ' 
should  refer  to  the  same  persons,  respectively,  in  i.  4  and 
i.  13:  the  prophet  might  indeed  describe  Israel  (i.  13)  as 
relatively  *  more  righteous  than '  the   Chaldaeans  ;   but 


The  Doctrine  of  the  Prophets,  p.  268. 


58  HABAKKUK 

would    a    contemporary  of  Jeremiah   speak    of   Israel 
absolutely  as  '  the  righteous '  ?  (i.  4). 

On  Budde's  very  original  view  of  Hab.  i-ii, — viz.  that  i.  2-4, 
12-17,  ii.  5-20  referred  originally  to  the  Assyrians^  and  was 
only  afterwards  accommodated  to  the  Chaldaeans,  and  that 
the  original  order  was  i.  2-4,  12-17,  ii*  ^-4)  i-  6-11  (the 
Chaldaeans  announced  as  the  destroyers  of  the  Assyrians)  ; 
ii.  5-20  (woes  directed  against  the  Assyrians), — followed 
virtually  by  G.  A.  Smith,  pp.  119  ff.,  132  ff . :  see  his  article 
*  Habakkuk'  in  EB.,  and  the  criticisms  of  Davidson,  pp.  50  ff., 
and  of  Peake  in  The  Problem  of  Suffering  in  the  O.  T.  (1904), 
pp.  4-11,  151  ff.  (who  himself  agrees  substantially  with 
Giesebrecht).  Another  solution  of  the  problem  of  Hab.  i-ii 
is  offered  by  W.  B.  Stevenson,  Expositor,  May  1902,  pp.  388  ff. 
(i.  2-4,  12-13,  and  i.  5-11,  14-17  [with  'and  he  maketh ' 
for  '  and  makest  *  in  v.  14, — the  change  in  the  Hebrew  is  only 
of  one  letter],  two  distinct,  unconnected  prophecies). 

Marti,  the  most  recent  commentator  upon  Habakkuk,  con- 
siders the  elements  contained  in  the  book  to  be  too  dissimilar 
for  its  unity  to  be  maintained ;  and  analyses  chaps,  i-ii  as 
follows : — 

1.  The  genuine  prophecy  of  Habakkuk,  announcing  the 
appearance  of  the  Chaldaeans  upon  the  stage  of  history,  and 
dating  shortly  after  the  battle  of  Carchemish  (b.  c.  605), 
i.  5-10,  14  [with  'and  he  maketh *]-i6.  Vv.  11  [the  verbs 
being  translated  as  pasts],  12''  (from  'O  Lord'),  17  are  later 
additions,  written  at  a  time  when  the  victories  of  the  Chaldaeans 
were  matter  of  history. 

2.  A  series  of  woes  directed  against  the  excesses  of  the 
Chaldaeans,  and  announcing  their  approaching  fall,  ii.  5-19 
(with  a  few  glosses  ;  v.  20  is  a  later  addition,  leading  on  to 
ch.  iii).  These  'woes'  could  not  have  been  written  'in  the 
same  breath'  with  No.  i,  which  announces  the  Chaldaeans  as 
appointed  by  Yahweh  to  execute  judgement  upon  Judah,  but 
must  date  from  a  time  considerably  later,  when  their  empire 
was  waning  to  its  close  {c.  540)  [?  later  than  is  necessary], 

3.  A  psalm  (post-exilic),  dealing  with  the  problem  arising 
out  of  the  sufferings  of  the  righteous,  and  stating  the  solution 
which  the  prophet  received,  i.  2-4,  12*  (to  '  Holy  One '),  13, 
ii.  1-4.  The  present  disarrangement  of  the  text  of  the  Psalm 
is  ingeniously  explained  by  the  supposition  that  it  was  written 
originally  on  the  three  margins  of  the  manuscript  containing 
i.  5-10,  14-16,  from  which  it  was  carelessly  incorporated  into 
the  text  by  a  scribe. 

Marti  undoubtedly  succeeds  in  extracting  from  chaps,  i-ii 
three  consistent  and  logical  wholes ;  but  the  dislocation  which 


INTRODUCTION  59 

has  to  be  postulated  for  No.  3  is  too  improbable.  On  the 
whole,  the  reader  will  perhaps  be  disposed  to  agree  with 
Prof.  Davidson  when  he  says  (p.  55)  that  the  ordinary  view 
of  chaps,  i-ii, — at  least  with  the  slight  modification  suggested 
above  on  p.  57, — 'has  the  fewest  difficulties.' 

(2)  In  chap,  ii  many  recent  scholars  have  thought  some, 
or  even  all,  of  the  taunts  in  vv.  9-20  to  be  not  part  of  the 
original  prophecy  of  Habakkuk,  but  exilic,  or  post-exilic, 
additions.  The  grounds  for  these  conclusions  are,  how- 
ever, too  slight  to  need  detailed  discussion  here.  They  are 
strongest,  perhaps,  in  the  case  of  vv.  12-14,  which  it  is 
urged,  are  deficient  in  originality,  being  in  substance  little 
more  than  variations  of  Mic.  iii.  10,  Jer.  li.  58  (late  exilic), 
and  Isa.  xi.  9.  Habakkuk  himself  may,  however,  have 
adapted  phrases  from  Micah  and  Isaiah  ;  and,  as  Jer.  1.  2- 
li.  58  is,  from  a  literary  point  of  view,  anything  but  an 
original  composition,  it  is  at  least  equally  probable  that 
Jer.  li.  58  is  borrowed  from  Hab.  ii.  13.  See  further 
Davidson  pp.  56-58;  DB.  ii.  271. 

(3)  Whether  the  ode  in  chap,  iii  is  really  the  work  of 
Habakkuk  may  be  more  doubtful.  The  title  and  the 
musical  notes  {vv.  3,  9,  13,  19),  both  resembling  closely 
those  in  the  Psalter,  suggest  the  inference  that  it  was 
excerpted  from  a  liturgical  collection  (in  which  it  was 
already  attributed  to  Habakkuk),  and  placed  here  by 
a  compiler  on  account  of  its  title  (Kuenen,  Wellhausen, 
Nowack,  Marti,  and  others).  It  is  further  argued  that 
the  ode  was  originally  an  independent  poem,  unconnected 
with  the  prophecy  of  Habakkuk :  it  contains  no  allusions 
to  the  circumstances  of  Habakkuk's  age,  so  clearly  re- 
flected in  chaps,  i-ii:  the  community  is  the  speaker 
{vv.  14,  18,  19,  and  no  doubt  also  in  vv.  2,  16) ;  it  trusts 
that  Yahweh  will  interpose  in  its  behalf ;  but  the  descrip- 
tions of  the  foe  {vv.  13,  14)  are  quite  general,  with- 
out any  features  pointing  specifically  to  the  Chaldaeans  ; 
and  the  comparison  to  a  murderer  delighting  'to  devour 
the  afflicted  in  a  secret  place '  (cf.  Ps.  x.  8,  9)  suggests 


6o  HABAKKUK 

attacks  made  insidiously  against  the  theocracy,  rather 
than  the  open  warfare  of  the  Chaldaeans  ;  while,  at  least 
in  V.  17,  the  calamities  referred  to  (failure  of  crops  and 
flocks)  are  altogether  different  from  those  which  were  the 
burden  of  Hab.  i-ii.  The  ode  thus  does  not  seem  to 
reflect  the  historical  situation  of  Hab.  i-ii.  Conversely, 
the  promise  in  ii.  4,  which  is  the  prophet's  consolation, 
does  not  at  all  suggest  a  theophany  as  its  complement ; 
and  whereas  in  ii.  7  ff.  the  Chaldaeans  are  overthrown  by 
the  natural  retribution  which  overtakes  a  despot  when 
his  power  has  become  effete,  the  foe,  in  chap,  iii,  is  over- 
thrown by  the  direct  interposition  of  Yahweh.  No  doubt 
it  is  true  that  the  downfall  of  the  Chaldaeans,  though 
brought  about  by  natural  causes  (ii.  7-8,  &c.),  might  be 
represented  as  the  result  of  a  direct  divine  intervention 
(cf.  Is.  ii.  12 ff.,  xiii.  4flr.);  but  even  after  making  every 
allowance  for  the  fact  that  chaps,  i-ii  are  only  elevated 
prose,  while  chap,  iii  is  written  in  a  lyric  strain,  it  remains 
that  the  thoughts  most  characteristic  of  chaps,  i-ii  are 
not  developed  further  in  chap,  iii,  but  are  replaced  by  new 
ones.  Wellhausen  insists  strongly  that  w,  17-19  are  not 
the  original  close  of  the  poem,  and  that  they  cannot  be 
used  for  determining  the  real  aim  and  scope  oiw,  2-16.  If 
vv.  17-19  might  be  regarded  as  an  appendix  attached  to 
vv.  2-16  by  a  later  hand,  one  ground  for  doubting  Habak- 
kuk's  authorship  of  the  poem  as  a  whole  would  certainly 
disappear.  There  would  remain  the  other  differences 
between  chap,  iii  and  chaps,  i-ii,  adverted  to  above ;  it  is 
also  doubtful  whether  the  nation — supposing  this  to  be 
intended  by  the  term— would,  before  the  monarchy  had 
ceased  to  exist,  be  described  as  Yahweh's  'anointed* 
{v.  13).  On  the  whole,  however  reluctant  we  may  be  to 
conclude  that  the  ode  in  chap,  iii  is  not  the  work  of 
Habakkuk,  it  must  be  admitted  that  it  contains*  features 
which  make  it  difflcult  to  affirm  his  authorship  confidently 
(cf.  Davidson,  pp.  58  f ). 


INTRODUCTION  6i 


§  4.  The  Theological  Teaching  of  the  Book. 

Theologically,  the  different  point  of  view  of  Habakkuk, 
as  compared  with  Jeremiah,  ought  to  be  noticed.  Jeremiah 
is  so  deeply  impressed  by  the  spectacle  of  his  people's 
sin  that  he  regards  the  Chaldaeans  almost  exclusively  as 
the  instruments  of  judgement ;  their  destruction  is  seen 
by  him  only  in  the  distant  future,  and  is  viewed  rather 
as  involved  in  God's  purpose  to  restore  His  people  than 
as  a  retribution  for  their  own  tyranny  and  excesses. 
Habakkuk,  on  the  other  hand,  though  not  unmindful  of 
Judah's  faults  (i.  2-4),  is  engrossed  chiefly  by  the  thought 
of  the  cruelties  and  inhumanities  of  the  oppressor :  an 
empire  founded  upon  brutality  and  injustice  is,  in  his 
eyes,  doomed  to  fall ;  and  the  outraged  nations  of  the 
earth  execute  the  doom  upon  their  tyrant,  and  give  vent 
to  their  elation  at  his  fall.  Further,  Habakkuk  is 
conscious  of  a  problem,  a  moral  difficulty,  which  is  not 
the  case  with  Jeremiah  \  The  wrongdoing  of  the 
Chaldaeans  is  more  unbearable  than  the  evil  it  was 
meant  to  punish:  hence  their  continued  successes  seem 
to  the  prophet  inconsistent  with  Yahweh's  righteousness, 
and  it  is  the  existence  of  this  inconsistency  which  forms 
the  motive  of  his  book.  Thus  while  Jeremiah  bewailed 
the  sins  and  coming  misfortunes  of  his  people,  for  their 
own  sake,  Habakkuk  brooded  over  the  moral  problems 
which  the  contemplation  of  them  raised  in  his  mind. 
The  age,  we  may  be  sure,  was  to  all  the  faithful  servants 
of  God  one  of  trial  and  perplexity ;  but,  in  virtue  of  their 
different  temperaments  and  mental  habits,  the  two  con- 
temporary prophets  were  impressed  by  different  aspects 
of  it,  and  were  moved  to  extract  from  it  different  lessons. 

The  central  and  distinctive  teaching  of  the  book  lies  in 

^  Except  indeed  in  so  far  as  it  is  exemplified  in  his  own 
personal  experience,  in  the  impunity,  viz.,  enjoyed  by  his  own 
enemies  (xii,  1-6). 


62  HABAKKUK 

the  declaration  of  ii.  4  '  Behold,  his  soul  is  puffed  up,  it 
is  not  even  in  him ;  but  the  just  will  live  by  his  faithful- 
ness '  ^ ;  and  (as  is  shown  in  the  note  ad  loc.)  the  true 
sense  of  this  is  that,  while  the  wild  excesses  of  the  tyrant 
carry  in  them  the  germs  of  certain  ruin,  the  '  faithfulness ' 
of  the  righteous — i.  e.  his  honesty,  integrity,  trustworthi- 
ness—will be  to  him  a  principle  of  life.  It  is  evident 
that  this  declaration  is  no  solution  of  the  moral  anomaly 
which  the  prophet  discerns.  The  empire  of  the  Chaldaeans 
might  indeed,  in  virtue  of  its  very  nature,  be  doomed 
ultimately  to  perish :  but  it  survived  for  sixty  years ; 
and  meanwhile  Habakkuk's  compatriots,  so  far  from 
abiding  in  peace  and  security,  experienced  the  indescrib- 
able hardships  of  siege  and  exile.  But  'live*  is  here 
used  in  the  full  and  pregnant  sense,  which  it  has  some- 
times in  the  O.  T.  (e.  g.  in  Ezek.  xviii),  of  living  in  the  light 
and  consciousness  of  divine  favour;  and  what  Habakkuk 
promises  is  thus  not  7Here  material  prosperity,  but  the  moral 
security — of  course  often  not  unaccompanied  by  material 
happiness— which  righteousness  brings  with  it  and  secures, 
even  in  the  midst  of  external  calamities,  and  the  sense  of 
divine  approval  which,  happen  what  may,  never  deserts 
it.  The  righteous  man,  even  in  normal  conditions  of 
society,  endures  where  others  fall ;  he  escapes  where 
others,  as  a  consequence  of  their  imperfect  moral  nature, 
are  brought  to  ruin ;  while,  even  if  calamities  overtake 
him,  he  is  still  conscious  of  a  moral  triumph.  It  is 
enough  for  Habakkuk  if  he  can  mitigate  the  difficulty 
which  pressed  upon  him,  as  it  pressed,  no  doubt,  upon 
many  of  his  contemporaries,  by  recalling  to  them  these 
two  truths  of  God's  providence — the  doom  which,  if  they 
will  but  wait  patiently  (ii.  3),  they  will  find  at  last  over- 
takes the  tyrant,  and  the  moral,  if  not  the  physical, 
security  enjoyed  by  the  righteous. 

^  The  text  and  meaning  of  the  first  clause  are  not  perfectly 
certain  (see  the  note,  p.  76) ;  but  the  uncertainty  does  not 
affect  the  general  sense  of  the  verse. 


INTRODUCTION  6$ 

In  the  New  Testament  the  second  clause  of  Hab.  ii.  4 
is  quoted  twice  by  St.  Paul  (Rom.  i.  17,  Gal.  iii.  11),  in 
the  sense,  '  The  just  shall  live  hy  faith ^'  in  support  of  his 
doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  ;  and  the  last  clause  of 
V.  3,  and  the  whole  of  v.  4,  almost  as  it  stands  in  the 
LXX  version  (see  below,  p.  Tj),  is  quoted  in  Heb.  x.  37  f., 
also  to  illustrate  the  benefits  of  'faith.'  This  sense, 
though  it  can  hardly  have  been  intended  by  the  LXX 
translators^,  whose  version  the  Apostles  used,  was  at 
any  rate  one  which  the  Greek  word  used  by  them 
permitted  ;  and  it  was  accordingly  adopted  by  St.  Paul  in 
his  argument,  and  also  by  the  author  of  the  Epistle  to 
the  Hebrews  in  Heb.  x.  38,— the  pronoun  *my,*  which  is 
unfavourable  to  this  interpretation,  being  omitted  by 
St.  Paul,  and  attached  to  *  righteous  '  in  Heb.  x.  38.    But 

*  faith  '  is  not  the  sense  belonging  to  'emiinah.  This 
does  not  mean  that  principle  of  trustful  reliance  upon 
another  which  we  call  *  faith,'  but  the  quality  of  being 
oneself  firm,  steady,  reliable  in  intercourse  with  others,  i.e. 
trustworthiness,  or  '  faithfulness.'  *  A  man  oi faithfulness' 
it  is  said  in  Prov.  xxviii.  20,  *aboundeth  in  blessings.' 

*  Lying  lips,'  says  another  proverb  (Prov.  xii.  22),  *  are  an 
abomination  to  the  LORD,  but  they  that  do  faithfulness 

^  Hab.  ii.  4''  is  rendered  by  the  LXX  6  h\  S'lKaios  €k  mffrews 
nov  [  \n2inNO  for  in2'«nN3  ]  (■naerai,  i.  e.  *  but  the  righteous  shall 
live  through  [lit.  from]  my  faithfulness.'  '  Faithfulness '  is  the 
general  meaning  of  mans  in  the  LXX  :  see  e.  g.  2  K.  xii.  15,  xxii. 
7  ;  2  Ch.  xxxi.  12,  15,  18  ;  Ps.  xxxii.  (xxxiii.)  4  ;  Hos.  ii.  20  (22)  ; 
Jer.  XV.  18,  xxxix.  (xxxii.)  41 ;  Lam.  iii.  23  (iroWri  -q  it'kxtis  aov 
[God's]),  in  all  (except  the  two  passages  from  Jer.)  for  the  same 
Heb.  word  n:TD«  as  here.  By  the  omission  in  Rom.  i.  17,  Gal. 
iii.  ir,  of  the  pronoun  nov  ('my  '),  and  by  its  being  in  Heb.  x. 
38  transposed  so  as  to  connect  with  '  righteous,'  it  becomes 
possible  to  understand  niaris  in  the  sense  of  *  faith.' 

Uiaris,  in  the  sense  of  'faith,'  is  construed  in  the  N.  T. 
with  a  genitive  of  the  person  who  is  its  object  (e.  g.  Gal.  ii. 
16,  20,  iii.  22  ;  Phil.  iii.  9) :  but  the  sense  is  there  clear  from 
the  context,  and  the  known  use  of  the  word  by  St.  Paul  ;  it 
could  scarcely  be  so  understood  in  the  LXX  of  Hab.  ii.  4. 


64  HABAKKUK 

are  his  delight.'  The  men  to  whom  money  was  given  for 
the  repair  of  the  Temple  'dealt  in  faithfulness^  i.e. 
honestly  (2  K.  xii.  15  [Heb.  16],  xxii.  7).  'Faithfulness' 
was  an  attribute  of  the  ideal  king,  in  his  exalted  office 
(Is.  xi.  5).  It  was  also  a  virtue  which,  Jeremiah  tells  us, 
though  earnestly  sought  for  by  Yahweh,  was  sadly  lacking 
in  Jerusalem  in  his  day  (Jer.  v.  i,  3,  vii.  28,  ix.  3,— all 
RVm.).  The  word  is  also  used  often  of  God's  'faithfulness' 
(Is.  XXV.  I  ;  Ps.  Ixxxix.  i,  2,  24,  33,  &c.)^  The  New 
Testament  gives  us  what  is  really  a  development  of  the 
prophet's  thought.  St.  Paul,  familiar  with  the  verse  as  it 
read  in  the  LXX  version,  ampUfies  and  spiritualizes  the 
words  of  Habakkuk— as  he  does  sometimes  with  other 
passages  quoted  by  him  from  the  O.T.— interpreting 
them  in  a  sense  which  does  not  properly  belong  to  them, 
but  which,  as  it  was  permitted,  or  suggested,  by  the 
Greek,  fitted  them  in  that  form  for  use  in  his  argument. 
And  the  passage  is  interpreted  similarly  in  Heb.  x.  'i^Z. 

'  Wellh.  and  Nowack  understand  nnt)«  in  Hab.  ii.  4  in  the 
sense  oi  faittiful  allegiance  to  God,  in  the  firm  assurance  that 
in  the  end  (cf.  v.  3)  the  righteous  cause  will  triumph,  and  the 
tyrant  be  overthrown.  But,  though  a  word,  expressing  the 
idea  of  steadfastness  or  faithfulness,  might,  no  doubt,  if  hmited 
to  a  relation  towards  a  particular  person,  pass  into  that  of 
fidelity  or  loyalty  towards  him,  the  O.  T.  furnishes  no  evidence 
that  n2iD«  ever  acquired  this  meaning. 


Explanation  of  Symbols. 

H'  .  .  .  .  Earlier  prophecy  of  Habakkuk. 
H^  .  .  .  .  Later  prophecy  of  Habakkuk. 
A Probable  later  Addition. 


HABAKKUK 

The  «-  burden  which  Habakkuk  the  prophet  did  see.     1 
[W]  O  Lord,  how  long  shall  I  cry,  and  thou  wilt  not  2 
hear  ?    I  cry  out  unto  thee  of  violence,  and  thou  wilt  not 
save.     Why  dost  thou  shew  me  iniquity,  and  ^  look  upon  3 

*  Or,  oracle  ^  Or,  cause  me  to  look 

i.  1.  The  oracle did  see.    See  the  first  two  notes  on  Nah.  i.  i. 

The  Book  opens  with  a  dialogue  between  the  prophet  and  his 
God.  The  dialogue  extends  into  ch.  ii ;  and  the  subject  of  it  is 
the  moral  difficulty  which  the  prophet  feels  in  Yahweh's  first 
allowing  lawlessness  to  prevail  unchecked  in  Judah,  and  then 
entrusting  the  punishment  of  it  to  a  cruel  and  godless  nation 
like  the  Chaldaeans. 

2-4.  The  prophet  expostulates  with  Yahweh  for  permitting 
wrong  to  continue  so  long  unchecked  in  Judah. 

2.  How  long,  O  Yahweh,  do  I  cry /or  help,  and  thou  hearest  not? 
I  cry  unto  thee,  Violence  !  and  thou  dost  not  save. 

The  word  rendered  '  cry '  in  the  first  clause  means  always  to 
cry  for  help  :  it  occurs  frequently  in  the  Psalms,  e.  g.  Ps.  xviii.  6* 
41,  xxii.  24:  cf.  Job  xix.  7^  With  clause  b  cf.  Job  xix.  7, 
(RVm.),  Jer.  xx.  8.  The  complaint  of  the  prophet  is  no  doubt 
more  than  a  merely  personal  one  :  he  cries  out  in  the  name  of  his 
faithful  compatriots,  who  have  to  sufier  equally  with  himself  from 
the  violence  and  injustice  of  the  wicked.  To  judge  from  the 
terms  of  the  verse,  the  prophet  has  felt  this  moral  anomaly  long 
and  keenly. 

3.  God  the  Holy  One  seems  to  look  on  quietly,  and  permit 
injustice  and  wrong  to  pass  unpunished. 

shew  me :  better,  canse  me  to  see — i.  e.  to  behold  it  around 
me. 

iniquity :  ^dven  is  not  the  regular  Heb.  word  for  *  iniquity,' 
but  is  a  term  of  disparagement,  meaning  properly,  it  seems, 
worthless  conduct,  naughtiness.  It  occurs  frequently  in  the  Psalms. 
See  the  writer's  Parallel  Psalter,  pp.  449  f. 

and  look  upon :  viz.  without  interfering  to  punish  it.  Con- 
trast V.  13,  Ps.  x.  14.  But  probably,  changing  a  letter,  we  should 
read  with  Targ.,  Pesh.  '  and  (why)  do  I  look  upon  ?' 


66  HABAKKUK  1.  4.     IP 

perverseness ?  for  spoiling  and  violence  are  before  me: 

4  and  there  is  strife,  and  contention  riseth  up.     Therefore 

the  law  is  slacked,  and  judgement  ^  doth  never  go  forth  : 

*  Or,  goefh  not  forth  unto  victory 

perverseness.  Rather  mischief,  or,  more  clearly,  oppres- 
sion: cf.  Is.  X.  r.  'Amal  is  properly /aiowr,  /o// (Gen.  xli.  51); 
then  fig.  travail  (Is.  liii.  11),  trouble,  whether  experiencecj  by 
oneself  (Ps.  Ixxiii.  5),  or  prepared  for  others,  and  in  the  latter 
case  commonly,  for  clearness,  rendered  tnischief  (Ps,  vii.  4,  16,  8cc.). 
Here  the  sequel  shows  that  the  latter  is  the  sense  intended  ;  for 
the  combination  with  ^dven,  as  here,  cf,  Ps.  x.  7,  Iv.  10  (in  a  city). 

spoiling*  and  violence.  So  Am.  iii.  10 ;  Jer.  vi.  7,  xx.  8  ; 
Ez.  xlv.  9.  'Spoiling'  (Heb.  shod:  'destruction,'  Isa.  xiii.  6; 
'desolation,'  li.  19,  lix.  7)  means  violent  ill-treatment;  'violence,' 
wrong  or  injury,  whether  accompanied  by  force  or  not  (w.  2,  9, 
ii.  8,  17  ;  Gen.  xvi.  5,  &c.). 

and  there  is  strife,  &c.  The  consequences  of  so  much 
violence  and  wrong  :  society  is  unsettled  ;  disputes  arise,  and 
instead  of  being  decided  by  law,  they  are  perpetuated  and  spread. 
For  the  two  words  used  see  Prov.  xv.  18,  xxvi.  21. 

4.  Therefore  direction  is  numb.  The  disorder  and  lawless- 
ness prevalent  in  Judah  incapacitated  even  the  priests  in  the 
discharge  of  their  duties.  Tordh  was  the  '  direction '  given  orally 
by  the  priest,  chiefly  on  points  of  ritual  observance,  but  including 
also  a  moral  element :  on  the  importance  attached  to  it,  and  for 
other  allusions  to  neglect  in  regard  to  it,  see  Mic.  iii.  11;  Dt.  xvii. 
II  (of  judicial  decisions),  xxiv.  8  ;  Jer.  ii.  8,  xviii.  18  ;  Zeph.  iii.  4  ; 
Ez.  vii.  26,  xxii.  26  ;  Mai.  ii.  6-9  (in  EVV.  *  law  '  and  '  teach,'  but 
'  direction  '  and  *  direct '  would  be  better).  See  further  the  article 
'  Law '  in  DB.,  p.  65  ;  and  on  Hag.  ii.  11. 

niunh :  i.  e.  chilled  and  paralysed,  bereft  of  life  and  force, 
inefficient.  Cf.  Ps.  xxxviii.  8  (RV.  'am  faint'),  Ixxvii.  2  (RV. 
'slacked'). 

judgement  doth  never  go  forth :  i.  e.  right  (Is.  x.  a),  both 
in  a  forensic  sense,  and  also  in  social  life  generally,  does  not 
come  forth  (Ps.  xvii.  2,  xxxvii,  6)  and  assert  itself,  as  it  should 
do:  cf.  Is.  lix.  14,  and  the  picture  in  Mic.  vii.  2-6,  or  Jer.  ix.  3-5. 
The  rendering  of  the  margin  is  derived  from  the  Aramaic  sense 
of  the  root,  to  conquer,  be  victorious,  which  the  word  here  used  has 
in  the  late  Hebrew  of  i  Ch.  xxix.  11,  and  which  is  also  given  to 
it  in  the  Greek  version  of  Is.  xxv.  8  (which  agrees  with  that  of 
Theodotion),  followed  by  St.  Paul  in  i  Cor.  xv.  54,  '  death  is 
swallowed  up  in  victory'  (cf.  Hab.  iii.  19,  LXX  rov  viK^aai  for 
n'j:o'5). 


HABAKKUK  1.  5,6.     H'  67 

for  the  wicked  doth  compass  about  the  righteous  \  there- 
fore judgement  goeth  forth  perverted.     Behold  ye  among  5 
the  nations,  and  regard,  and  wonder  marvellously  :  for  *  I 
work  a  work  in  your  days,  which  ye  will  not  believe  though 
it  be  told  you.      For,  lo,  I  raise  up  the  Chaldeans,  that  6 

*  Or,  one  worketh 

compass  about.  In  a  hostile  sense  (Ps.  xxii.  12),  at  once 
depriving  him  of  his  rights,  and  limiting  his  influence  for  good. 

5-11.  The  answer  of  Yahweh  to  the  prophet's  complaint  : 
already  He  is  raising  up  the  ministers  of  judgement,  the  Chal- 
daeans,  a  people  mighty  and  terrible,  imperious  and  all-subduing. 

5.  Behold  ye  among'  the  nations :  viz.  to  see  what  is  there 
happening,  to  watch  the  storm  of  judgement  arising,  and  advanc- 
ing from  nation  to  nation,  till  finally  it  breaks  upon  you  (Jer. 
XXV.  32).  '  Ye '  (i.  e.  the  Judahites)  is  to  be  taken  closely  with 
'behold':  the  meaning  is  not  *Ye  among  the  nations,  behold.' 
Perhaps,  however,  with  Nowack,  Marti,  and  others,  we  should 
read,  following  the  LXX,  '  Behold,  ye  faithless  ones  ^  (i.  e.  ye  faith- 
less Judahites),  and  regard.' 

I  work.  The  marg.  is  added  for  a  grammatical  reason. 
*Work '  is  in  the  Hebrew  a  participle,  with  no  subject  expressed ; 
and  in  such  cases  a  subject  in  the  third  person,  not  in  the  first,  is 
usually  understood  (G.-K.  §  ii6'»').  The  general  sense  remains 
the  same  :  for  even  though  the  grammatical  subject  be  *  one,'  the 
real  agent  is  still  implicitly  Yahweh. 

work  a  work.  Both  words  are  often  used  of  a  Divine  opera- 
tion, especially  of  one  on  a  large  scale :  iii.  2 ;  Is.  v,  la ; 
Ps.  xliv.  I,  Ixiv.  9,  xc.  16,  xcv.  9. 

ye  will  not  believe,  &c.  Better,  ye  would  not  btlieve  (viz. 
under  other  circumstances),  though  it  were  told  you,  i.  e.  unless 
you  had  express  evidence  of  it.  The  following  verses  describe 
what  this  work  is,  viz.  the  establishment  of  the  power  of  the 
Chaldaeans,  with  indirect  allusion  to  the  manner  in  which  that 
would  affect  Judah. 

6.  Por,  lo,  I  am  raising  up.  The  words  cannot  refer  to  the 
first  appearance  of  the  Chaldaeans  upon  the  stage  of  history  (for 
Nabopolassar  had  been  upon  the  throne  of  Babylon  for  some 

*  onan  for  D^"i:a.  The  actual  rendering  of  LXX  is,  *  Behold,  ye 
despisers,  and  regard,  and  wonder  marvellously,  and  perish ' ;  but 
that  'despisers'  is  a  misrendering  of  Dn:3  is  apparent  from  v,  13. 
The  words  *  and  perish '  are  an  addition  of  the  translators.  The 
LXX  rendering  is  followed  (substantially)  in  the  quotation  in  Acts 
xiii.  41. 

F  2 


68  HABAKKUK  1.7.     H^ 

bitter  and  hasty  nation  ;  which  march  through  the  breadth 

of  the  earth,  to  possess  dwelHng  places  that  are  not  theirs. 

7  ^  They  are  terrible  and  dreadful :   their  judgement  and 

*  Heb.  He^  and  so  in  vv.  8,  9. 


twenty  years)  ;  but  the  Chaldaeans  were  for  the  Jews  a  new 
power — they  had  just  gained  a  great  victory  over  Egypt,  and  the 
expression  rather  means  *am  raising  up  so  as  to  estabhsh  and 
confirm.'  The  partic.  after  lo  (or  behold)^  as  often,  especially  in 
prophecy,  of  the  imminent  future. 

the  Chaldaeans  (Heb.  Kasdim).  Kasdim  is  the  Heb.  form 
of  the  Bab.  and  Ass.  Kaldu  (XaASarot, '  Chaldaeans '),  a  tribe  often 
mentioned  in  the  Assyrian  Inscriptions  from  about  880  B.C.: 
their  home  at  that  time  was  in  Lower  Babylonia  (the  Persian 
Gulf  is  called  the  <  sea  of  the  land  of  the  Kaldu ') ;  afterwards, 
becoming  more  powerful,  they  gradually  advanced  inland  ;  in  721 
Merodach-baladan,  '  king  of  the  land  of  the  Kaldu,'  as  he  is  called 
in  the  inscriptions,  made  himself  for  twelve  years  king  of  Babylon 
(cf.  Is.  xxxix.  i)  ;  and  ultimately,  under  Nabopolassar  (above, 
pp.  9,  52)  and  Nebuchadnezzar,  the  Kaldii  became  the  ruling 
caste  in  Babylon.  After  Jehoiakim's  revolt  (2  K.  xxiv.  1)  they 
became  the  most  formidable  enemies  of  Judah  ;  and  in  the  end 
(b.  c.  586)  destroyed  Jerusalem. 

bitter :  i.  e.  fierce,  unpleasant  to  those  who  come  in  contact 
with  it :  cf.  6///^>'q/'5o///=  angry,  enraged :  Jud.  xviii.  25, 2  S.  xvii.  8. 

hasty :  i.  e.  vehement,  impetuous  :  in  Is.  xxxii.  4  (see  RVm.) 
precipitate  (in  judgement). 

which  inarch,  &c.  Their  object  is  conquest,  to  seize  for 
a  possession  the  dwelling-places  of  other  peoples.  The  verbs 
and  pronouns  from  here  to  the  end  oi  v.  11  (except  v.  9  'their 
faces')  are  all  singular  in  the  Heb.)  'which  marcheth  .  .  .  that 
are  not  its.  It  is  terrible,'  &c.),  the  nation  being  treated  as 
a  single  whole.  Similarly  elsewhere,  as  Is.  v.  26-30  (see  RVm.), 
xvii.  13,  14  (RVm.),  Jer.  v.  16*,  17  (Heb.). 

7.  The  formidable  character  of  this  nation:  its  military  strength 
inspires  terror  into  other  peoples,  and  in  its  policy  it  is  guided 
by  no  considerations  except  those  proceeding  from  itself. 

its  rig'ht,  &c.  It  is  an  imperious  and  autocratic  nation  :  its 
right— the  word  {ntishpdt)  means  properly  the  decision  of  a  judge, 
and  is  then  used  in  an  extended  sense  of  right,  both  legal  and 
moral  (cf.  Is.  x.  2;  Jer.  v.  28,  xvii.  11) — and  its  dignity  (Gen. 
xlix.  3)  or  loftiness  (Job  xiii.  11,  xxxi.  23  [EVV.  badly,  excellency\) 
— i.  e.  its  pre-eminence  above  other  nations — proceed  from  itself 
have  their  root  only  in  itself,  not  in  God  :    it  owns  no  superior. 


HABAKKUK  1.  8.     H^  69 

their  dignity  proceed  from  themselves.     Their  horses  also  8 
are  swifter  than  leopards,  and  are  more  fierce  than  the 
evening  wolves ;  and  their  horsemen  » spread  themselves  ; 
yea,  their  horsemen  come  from  far ;  they  fly  as  an  eagle 

*  Or,  bear  themselves  proudly 

Cf.  the  words  put  by  Isaiah  into  the  mouth  of  the   Assyrian, 
Is.  X.  8-1 1,  13-14. 

8-10.  Their  armies  advance  swiftly,  and  are  irresistible. 

His  horses  are  swifter  than  leopards  (cno:'^).  Varied 
from  Jer.  iv.  13  'His  horses  are  swifter  than  eagles  (cn^rco).'  The 
leopard  is  noted  both  for  the  swiftness  of  its  course  and  also  for 
the  celerity  with  which  it  springs  upon  its  prey  ^  :  it  '  will  take  up 
its  station  in  concealment  by  a  village  or  watering-place,  and 
await  for  hours  its  opportunity  of  pouncing  upon  the  cattle' 
(Tristram,  NHB.  112:  cf.  Jer.  v.  6;  Hos.  xiii.  7). 

are  keener  (viz.  in  attack  :  lit.  '  sharper ')  than  eveninjf 
wolves.  Wolves  in  the  East  conceal  themselves  during  day,  but 
prowl  forth  at  nightfall  and  watch  their  opportunity  of  leaping 
suddenly  into  the  fold,  and  seizing  a  sheep  (Tristram,  iV^5. 152-4), 
Cf.  Zeph.  iii.  3. 

spread  themselves.  This  rendering,  retained  from  AV.,  has 
no  probability  :  RVm.  bear  themselves  proudly,  though  not, 
perhaps,  certain,  is  decidedly  preferable  ;  the  correctness  of  the 
text,  however,  is  not  entirely  above  suspicion '-. 

they  come  from  far,  &c,  A  point  in  the  marvel :  they  come 
from  far,  like  the  eagle  (cf.  Dt.  xxviii.  49  'from  the  end  of  the 
earth  '),  and,  like  the  eagle,  they  light  on  the  prey  that  they  intend 
to  devour.  For  the  comparison  cf.  Dt.  xxviii.  49  ;  Jer.  iv.  13, 
xlviii.  40  =  xlix.  22  (of  Nebuchadnezzar)  ;    Lam.  iv.  19. 

an  eagle.      Heb.    nesher^    more    exactly  2,    a   vulture — not, 

^  Cf.  Oppian,  Kyneg.  75  f.,  quoted  by  Bochart,  Hieroz.  ii.   104 — 
'0.KV7aT0v  OeUi,  Kai  r    d\Kifioy  Wvs  opovei, 
iairjs  oiriTOT*  tdoio  lirjipi-qv  (popieaOai. 

'  The  verb  (^^^£)  occurs  twice  besides,  each  time  of  an  animal,  Jer. 
1.  10  (RV.  are  wanton),  Mai.  iv.  2  (RV.  gambol).  In  Arabic  \ric 
means  to  glory,  boast,  magnify  oneself;  and  this  meaning  would 
suit  the  three  passages,  but  the  sibilant  in  the  Heb.  does  not  corre- 
spond as  it  should  do.  Possibly,  however,  the  Massorites  are  at  fault 
in  pointing  ir.  Here,  however,  the  entire  clause  (rc\C  "iirci),  which 
makes  the  verse  unduly  long,  is  open  to  the  suspicion  of  being 
a  corrupt  anticipation  of  the  following  Vtt?iE ;  and  we  should  perhaps 
read,  with  Wellh.,  Marti  (after  *  leopards  ')» '  ««^  their  horsemen  are 
keener  than  evening  wolves ;  they  come  from  far, ^  &c. 

^  See  Mic.  i.  16  *  Enlarge  thy  baldness  (viz.  in  mourning)  as  the 


70  HABAKKUK  1.9-ii.     H^ 

9  that   hasteth   to  devour.     They  come  all   of  them   for 
violence ;  ^  their  faces  are  set  eagerly  ^  as  the  east  wind  ; 

10  and  they  gather  captives  as  the  sand.  ^  Yea,  he  scoffeth 
at  kings,  and  princes  are  a  derision  unto  him  :  he  derideth 
every  strong  hold  ;  for  he  heapeth  up  dust,  and  taketh  it. 

1 1  ^  Then  shall  he  sweep  by  as  a.  wind,  and  shall  «  pass  over, 

*  Heb.  the  eagerness  (or  assembling)  of  their  faces  is  &c. 
^  Or,  towards  the  east     Or,  forwards        *=  Or,  And  they  scoff  &c. 
^  Or,  Then  shall  the  ivind  sweep  by,  and  he  shall  pass  away 
^  Or,  transgress 

however,  the  carrion-vulture,  but  the  great  vulture,  or  Griffon- 
vulture,  a  majestic  bird  constantly  visible  in  Palestine,  as  it  circles 
higher  and  higher  in  the  heavens,  and  then  rapidly  (Lam.  iv.  19 ; 
Job  ix.  26)  swoops  down  upon  its  prey  (Tristram,  NHB.  172-179). 

9.  tbeir  fac33,  &c.  A  most  uncertain  clause.  Assuming  the 
text  to  be  correct,  the  most  probable  rendering  would  be  (cf. 
RVm.),  the  assembling^  of  their  faces  is  eastwards;  but,  as  'east- 
wards' is  unsuitable,  in  view  of  the  relative  situations  of  Babylon 
and  Judah,  the  very  questionable  alternative  forwards  (marg.) 
has  been  proposed.  There  must  be  some  deep-rooted  error  in 
the  text.     No  plausible  emendation  has  hitherto  been  suggested. 

as  the  sand :  i.  e.  as  innumerable  as  the  sand  :  Gen.  xxii. 
17,  xli.  49  ;  Jud.  vii.  12  ;  2  S.  xvii.  11. 

10.  The  Chaldaean  mocks  at  all  attempts  to  check  his  advance  : 
kings  and  princes  oppose  him  in  vain,  and  every  fortress  he 
quickly  reduces. 

he  heapath  up  dust,  a^d  taketh  it.  His  means  are  simple 
— nothing  more  than  'dust' — but  effectual.  The  allusion  is  to 
the  ancient  method  of  taking  cities  by  throwing  up  a  long  mound 
•  of  earth  from  the  lines  of  the  besiegers,  until  it  rose  to  the  level  of 
the  city  walls,  so  that  the  assailants,  advancing  along  its  top, 
could  fight  their  way  in.  The  technical  expression  is  to  '  throw 
up  a  mound '  (spilt  in  EVV.  mount) :  2  K.  xix.  32  ;  Jer.  vi.  6  al. 

11.  Then  he  sweepeth  on  like  a  wind,  and  passeth  throngh, 

nJsher  ' — a  description  satisfied  by  the  Griffon-vulture,  the  head  and 
neck  of  which  are  bald,  and  covered  with  down,  instead  of  feathers, 
but  not  by  the  eagle  (Tristram,  NHB.  173). 

^  This  rendering  connects  rr^JO  (which  occurs  only  here)  with  the 
Arab,  j'amma,  'to  be  abundant';  'eagerness'  depends  upon  an 
assumed  connexion  with  the  Heb.  XOJ,  '  to  swallow  down  '  (Job  xxxix. 
24),  which  is  questionable  philologically. 


HABAKKUK  1.  12.     H'H^  71 

and  be  guilty  :  even  he  whose  might  is  his  god.     [H^J  Ajct  12^ 
not  thou  from  everlasting,  O  Lord  my  God,  mine  Holy 
One?  *we  shall  not  die.     O  Lord,  thou  hast  ordained 

*  Or,  According  to  an  ancient  Jewish  tradition,  thou  diest  not. 


and  becoxnetli   grnilty :   this  his   migrht  becometh   his   g-od. 

The  fortress  taken  ('Then'),  he  sweeps  on  like  a  hurricane  in 
his  career  of  conquest ;  and,  elated  by  victory,  deifies  his  own 
might  {Dextra  ntihi  deus).  The  margins  of  RV.  may  be  disre- 
garded. But  the  text  in  parts  of  clause  a  is  suspicious  ;  and  the 
correction  (one  letter  only),  and  maketh  this  his  strength  to  he  his 
god,  for  *  and  becometh  guilty,'  &c.,  is  at  least  very  probable. 

12-17.  But  a  fresh  difficulty  now  arises  :  granted  that  Israel 
deserves  punishment,  how  can  the  righteous  Ruler  of  the  world 
employ  as  His  ministers  this  proud,  idolatrous  nation,  which 
tramples  down  inhumanly  and  indiscriminately  all  men  alike  ? 
Is  this  righteous  judgement  ?  Is  it  not  rather  the  triumph  of 
violence  on  a  larger  scale  • 

12.  Can  it  be  that  Yahweh  means  Israel  to  perish  ?  Surely  He 
cannot  intend  that  the  Chaldaeans  should  do  more  than  correct  it? 
Cf.  the  same  distinction  in  Jer.  xxx.  n. 

Art  Then  not  from  of  old,  Yahweh,  my  God,  mine  Holy 
One  ?  i.  e.  ('  Yahweh '  being  the  predicate)  *  Art  Thou  not  our 
national  God,  Yahweh,  from  of  old  ? '  The  prophet  in  using  the 
pronouns  of  the  ist  pers.  sing,  speaks  in  the  name  of  the  nation  : 
and,  from  the  fact  that  Yahweh,  the  faithful  and  unchangeable  One, 
has  been  from  of  old  the  national  God  of  Israel  (Hos.  xiii.  4 
RVm.),  argues  ('we  shall  not  die')  that  it  cannot  be  His  intention 
that  Israel  should  perish  at  the  hands  of  the  Chaldaeans. 

from  of  old :  lit.  '  from  before '  or  *  from  aforetime.'  The 
expression  denotes  what  is  ancient  rather  than  what  is  eternal : 
it  is  often  used,  for  instance,  of  the  Mosaic  age  or  other  distant 
periods  of  Israel's  past  (e.  g.  Ps.  xliv.  i,  Ixxiv.  2,  12) ;  it  is 
applied  to  God,  as  here,  Dt.  xxxiii.  27  ('The  God  0/  old  is 
a  dwelling  place  '),  Ps.  Iv.  19  ^ 

mine  Holy  One  :  adapted  from  Isaiah's  title  of  Yahweh,  the 
'  Holy  One  of  Israel,'  Is.  i.  4,  v.  19,  24,  &c. 

we  shall  not  die.  According  to  Jewish  tradition  (cf.  RVm.), 
this  is  one  of  eighteen  passages  called  '  corrections  of  the  scribes  ' 
{tikkHne  sopherim),  i.  e.  passages  in  which  the  original  reading 
was  supposed  to  have  been  altered  by  the  scribes  on  account  of  its 

^  It  may  even  be  applied  to  a  former  period  of  a  single  lifetime, 
Job  xxix.  3. 


72  HABAKKUK  1.  13.     H- 

him  for  judgement ;  and  thou,  O  »^Rock,  hast  estabhshed 
13  him  for  correction.  Thou  that  art  of  purer  eyes  than  to 
behold  evil,  and  that  canst  not  look  on  perverseness, 
wherefore  lookest  thou  upon  them  that  deal  treacher- 
ously, and  boldest  thy  peace  when  the  wicked  swalloweth 
*  See  Deut.  xxxii.  4. 


containing  something  which  appeared  to  them  to  be  unseemly  or 
irreverent.  The  passages  must  be  considered  each  on  its  own 
merits :  in  some  cases,  there  may  be  some  support  for  the 
allegation  ;  in  others,  it  is  probably  nothing  more  than  a  Jewish 
fancy.  Here  the  original  reading  is  alleged  to  have  been  ^  Thou 
wilt  not  die/  changed  to  *  We  shall  not  die,'  on  account  of  the 
irreverence  implied  in  bringing  together  the  ideas  of  God  and 
death.  The  context,  however,  in  this  case  lends  no  support  to  the 
view  that  this  was  the  original  reading  ;  the  deduction  '  Wc 
shall  not  die '  is  necessary  to  give  point  to  the  verse. 

thou  hast  ordained,  &c.  '  Judgement '  and  '  correction '  are 
the  emphatic  words :  the  Chaldaean,  the  prophet  would  fain 
believe,  has  been  appointed  by  Yahweh  to  judge  and  correct 
Israel,  but  not  to  exterminate  it  (Jer.  xxx.  ir). 

Bock.  A  poetical  title  of  God,  designating  Him  as  the 
unchangeable  support  or  refuge  of  His  people — usually  the  Rock  of 
Israel,  or  his,  my,  their  Rock,  or  the  Rock  of  his  {thy)  salvation, 
Dt.  xxxii.  4  ('  the  Rock'),  15,  18,  30 ;  2  S.  xxiii.  3  ;  and  often  in 
the  Psalms,  as  Ps.  xviii.  2,  31,  47,  xix.  14. 

13.  How,  moreover,  can  Yahweh,  the  pure  and  Holy  God,  look 
on  with  unconcern  {v.  3)  while  the  Chaldaean  outrages  alf  right 
and  justice  ? 

perverseness.  Rather,  as  v.  3,  mischief,  or  oppression. 
The  'evil'  and  'mischief  are  here  those  wrought  by  the 
Chaldaeans. 

them  that  deal  treacherously  :  i.  e.  faithlessly,  unconscion- 
ably, viz.  in  war.  The  expression  is  used  also  in  Is.  xxi.  2,  xxiv. 
16,  xxxiii.  I,  of  ruthless,  barbarous  plunderers.  Here  it  refers  of 
course  to  the  Chaldaeans. 

holdest  thy  peace.  Lookest  on  silently,  without  interfering : 
cf.  Is.  xlii.  14  ;  Ps.  1.  21. 

the  wicked.  The  '  wicked  '  is  here  (otherwise  than  in  v.  4) 
the  Chaldaean  :  the  '  man  that  is  more  righteous  than  he '  'is 
generalized  to  include  the  other  nations,  victims  of  the  Chaldaean 
barbarities,  though  Israel  may  be  specially  in  the  prophet's  mind. 
But  in  vv.  iz-iq  the  prophet  speaks  out  of  the  heart  of  humanity. 
The  anomaly    is  that  the  righteous   God,   whose  nature   cannot 


HABAKKUK  1.  14-16.     H^  73 

up  the  man  that  is  more  righteous  than  he;  and  makest  14 
men  as  the  fishes  of  the  sea,  as  the  creeping  things,  that 
have  no  ruler  over  them  ?     He  taketh  up  all  of  them  with  15 
the  angle,  he  catcheth  them  in  his  net,  and  gathereth 
them  in  his  drag  :    therefore  he  rejoiceth  and  is  glad. 
Therefore  he  sacrificeth  unto  his  net,  and  burneth  in-  16 


endure  wrong,  looks  on  and  is  silent  over  this  wrong  which  is  as 
large  as  the  human  race'  (Davidson\ 

14-16.  The  prophet's  thought  illustrated  by  a  simile.  Men 
are  become  like  fishes,  which  the  Chaldaean  sweeps  into  his  net, 
paying  afterwards  Divine  honours  to  the  instrument  which  thus 
enriches  him. 

14.  and  makest.  Rather,  and  hast  made.  The  condition  is 
one  which  has  already  begun.  It  might  be  that  the  Chaldaeans 
were  appointed  to  '  correct '  (v.  12)  :  but  they  had  exceeded  the 
terms  of  their  commission  (cf.  Is.  xlvii.  6)  ;  they  had  reduced  men 
to  the  condition  of  fishes,  without  organization,  without  leaders, 
helpless  before  their  captors.  The  prophet,  with  that  disregard 
of  secondary  causes  which  is  characteristic  of  Hebrew  thinkers 
(cf.  Am.  iii.  6;  Job  ix.  24^,  boldly  charges  God  with  being  the 
cause  of  all  the  outrages  inflicted  upon  mankind  by  the  Chaldaeans. 

creeping'  thing's.  An  expression  generally  denoting  reptiles 
(Gen.  i.  26,  vi.  7  ;  i  K.  iv.  33),  but  used  also  of  small  aquatic 
creatures,  Ps.  civ.  25  ('wherein  z.re  things  creeping  \r\nnmtv3h\G^). 
It  might  be  meant  here  in  the  former  sense,  as  a  parallel  among 
land-animals  to  the  '  fishes  of  the  sea '  ;  but  the  context,  especially 
V.  15,  rather  favours  the  supposition  that  small  marine  animals  are 
intended, — or  at  least  that  they  are  included  in  the  expression. 

no  ruler.     Cf.  Prov.  vi.  7  (of  ants),  xxx.  27  (locusts). 

15.  catcheth  in:  better,  sweepeth  along  (Pr.  xxi.  7)  with. 

in  his  drag'.  The  Heb.  word  occurs  only  here,  v.  16,  and 
(with  one  vowel  different)  Is.  xix.  8  ('  nets ')  :  LXX  here  and  in 
one  rendering  of  Is.  xix.  8,  aa-yqvT],  i.  e.  a  large  drag-net,  or  seine 
(Ital.  sagena),  whence  the  verb  aa-yqvevoj,  to  'sweep  clear' 
a  conquered  country  (Hdt.  iii.  149  a/.). 

he  rejoiceth,  &c.     Exulting  over  his  successful  haul. 

16.  The  Chaldaean  deifies  the  instruments — i.  e.  his  weapons 
of  war — to  which  he  owes  his  successes.  Herod,  (iv.  59,  ,60) 
states  that  the  Scythians  offered  a  yearly  sacrifice  of  sheep  and 
horses  to  the  scimitar  as  the  symbol  of  the  war-god  Ares  :  but 
whether  a  knowledge  of  this  fact  suggested  the  figure  used  by  the 
prophet  is  uncertain  :  it  may  merely  be  another  more  pointed 
way  of  stating  what  was  said  before  in  v.  11,  that  the  Chaldaean 


74  HABAKKUK  1.  17—2.  i.     H« 

cense  unto  his  drag ;  because  by  them  his  portion  is  fat, 
;  and  his  meat  ^plenteous.     Shall  he  therefore  empty  his 

net,  and  not  spare  to  slay  the  nations  continually  ? 
I      I  will  stand  upon  my  watch,  and  set  me  upon  the 

*  Heb./fl/. 

so  trusted  in  the  material  strength  of  his  empire  and  army  that  it 
became  to  him  his  god.  The  description  is  spoken  from  the 
standpoint  of  a  Hebrew  prophet  :  the  inscriptions  of  Nabopolassar 
(b.  c.  625-605),  and  of  his  son  Nebuchadnezzar,  one  of  whom 
must  have  been  on  the  throne  when  Habakkuk  wrote,  show  that 
both  were  loyal  and  devoted  worshippers  of  Marduk,  Nebo,  and 
Shamash,  who,  if  their  inscriptions  had  recorded  victories,  would, 
we  may  be  sure,  have  gratefully  attributed  them  to  their  help. 

his  portion  is  ricli,  and  his  food  fat :  i.  e.  his  catch  of 
'fish,'  fig.  for  the  gains  accruing  to  him  from  his  conquests.  In 
the  Heb.  there  are  two  synonyms  for  'fat,'  which  are  perhaps 
best  distinguished  by  the  renderings  here  given.  Meat  in  RV. 
(  =  AV.)  is  used  in  the  now  obsolete  sense  of  the  word  (except  in 
'  sweetmeat ')  for  food  generally,  not  animal  food  in  particular  :  so 
often  in  EVV.,  as  iii.  17  ;  Gen.  i.  29 ;  Is.  Ixii.  8. 

17.  Render :  Shall  he  therefore — viz.  because  he  thus  rejoices 
over  his  gains,  and  honours  his  net  as  a  god — empty  his  net 
(and,  it  is  implied,  go  on  casting  it  and  filling  it  again),  and 
shall  he  continually  slay  nations  unsparing'ly  ?  Giesebrecht, 
however,  followed  by  Wellh.,  Now.,  Smith,  Marti,  making  two 
slight  changes,  suggests,  very  cleverly,  Shall  he  for  ever  draw 
his  sword,  and  continually  slay  nations  unsparingly  ?  This  yields 
a  better  sense  than  the  Massoretic  text,  and  may  well  be  the 
original  reading.  For  the  rendering  draw  (of  a  sword),  see  Ex. 
XV.  9,  Lev.  XX vi.  33  al. 

ii.  1-4.  The  prophet's  *  complaint  *  (in  ch.  i)  respecting  the 
justice  of  God's  government  of  the  world,  is  ended  ;  and  he  waits 
patiently,  like  a  watchman  on  his  out-look  tower,  to  see  what 
answer  the  Almighty  may  vouchsafe  to  it. 

1.  A  soliloquy  of  the  prophet.  The  figure  is  that  of  a  watchman 
mounting  a  high  tower  in  order  to  see  afar  (2  S.  xviii.  24;  2  K.  ix. 
17)  ;  and  it  expresses  the  spiritual  preparation  of  the. prophet's 
soul,  the  earnest  expectation  with  which  he  waits  for  the  Divine 
answer :  he  will  retire  from  the  distracting  crowd,  will  direct  his 
gaze  to  heaven,  and  look  out  till  the  answer  comes. 

I  will  stand,  &c.    The  prophet  describes  indirectly  what  he 
has  done  by  citing  the  resolve  which  he  had  made  to  do  it 

watch.    Better  post,  lit.  place  to  be  guarded  or  kept  (cf.  2  Ch. 


HABAKKUK  2.  a,  3.     H^  75 

a  tower,  and  will  look  forth  to  see  what  he  will  speak 
^with  me,  and  what  I  shall  answer  concerning  my  com- 
plaint.    And  the  Lord  answered  me,  and  said,  Write  the  a 
vision,  and  make  it  plain  upon  tables,  that  he  may  run 
that  readeth  it.     For  the  vision  is  yet  for  the  appointed  3 
*  Ovy  fortress  *»  Or,  by 

vii.  6  ('the  priests  were  standing  upon  their  posts  ').  Exactly  so, 
Is.  xxi.  8,  in  a  similar  connexion  (EW.  ward). 

the  tower.  Better,  the  muniment :  cf.  Nah.  ii.  i — some  part 
of  the  fortifications  on  which  a  watchman  might  naturally  place 
himself. 

look  forth:  viz.  as  a  watchman,  the  word  being  that  of 
which  the  ordinary  Heb.  word  for  *  watchman '  is  the  participle  : 
cf  the  term  *  watchman'  used  of  the  prophets,  Jer.  vi.  17;  Mic. 
vii.  4 ;    Ez.  iii.  17  ;  Is.  Ivi.  10  ;  and  see  especially  Is.  xxi.  6-9. 

with  me.  This  is  better  than  the  marg.  by  me  :  cf.  Zech.  i.  9  ; 
and  see  Dr.  Gray's  note  on  Num.  xii.  2. 

what  X  shall  answer  to  my  complaint,  or,  better,  to  my 
reproof  (Pr.  i.  23,  and  often),  or  impeachment,  viz.  of  God,  that 
He  leaves  the  wicked  unpunished,  and  even  entrusts  to  him  the 
punishment  of  the  righteous  (i.  13-17).  Pesh.  for  '  I  shall 
answer '  has  he  will  answer,  which  agrees  better  with  '  he  will 
speak,'  and  is  probably  correct. 

2.  Yahweh's  answer,  heard  by  the  prophet's  mental  ear. 
The  significance  of  this  answer  is  betokened  by  the  terms  in 
which  it  is  introduced  :  it  is  to  be  written,  viz.  on  tablets,  in  order 
that  all  may  read  it  easily,  and  also  because  it  will  only  be  fully 
verified  in  the  future,  when  the  tablets  will  be  evidence  that  the 
prophet  has  spoken  it  (cf  Is.  xxx.  8). 

the  vision :  i.  e,  the  prophecy,  or  revelation  :  cf  on  Nah.  i.  i. 

tables:  as  in  Luke  i,  63  AV.,  an  archaism  for  tablets;  cf 
Is.  viii.  I,  xxx.  8.     Make  it  plain,  as  Dt.  xxvii.  8. 

that  he  may  run,  &c.  That  he  who  readeth  it  may  run, 
— viz.  in  his  reading,  i.  e.  may  read  it  fluently,  without  being 
hindered  by  any  indistinctness  in  the  writing. 

3.  For  the  vision  is  still  for  the  appointed  time :  it  still 
relates  to  the  time  appointed  by  God  for  its  fulfilment ;  there  is  an 
end,  or  goal,  towards  which  it  still  presseth,  and  which,  though 
it  may  be  far  distant,  and  the  time  of  waiting  may  seem  long,  it 
still  will  not  fail  to  reach. 

hasteth.  Or,  presseth :  lit. ,  if  the  text  be  right  ( for  the  figure 
is  rather  a  strange  one),  puffeth  or  panteth  (Ps.  xii.  5  RVm.)  ; 
cf  the  Lat.  inhiare.  The  prophecy  is,  as  it  were,  personified,  and 
represented  as  pressing  on  eagerly  to  its  accomplishment. 


76  HABAKKUK  2.4.     H* 

time,  and  it  »  hasteth  toward  the  end,  and  shall  not  lie  : 
though  it  tarry,  wait  for  it ;  because  it  will  surely  come,  it 
will  not  delay.  Behold,  his  soul  is  puffed  up,  it  is  not 
b upright  in  him:  but  the  just  shall  live  ^by  his  faith. 
•'■  Heb.  panteth.         ^  Or,  straight  °  Or,  in  his  faithfulness 


will  not  lie  :  i.  e.  will  not  deceive,  or  disappoint,  those  who 
trust  in  it,  will  not  fail.     Cf.  (of  waters)  Is.  Iviii.  11  (EW.  '  fail'). 

tarry:  linger  (Gen.  xliii.  11)  would  perhaps  be  better. 

come :  i.  e.  come  to  pass,  be  fulfilled,  as  Dt.  xviii.  22  al. 

delay.  Or,  be  late :  lit, '  be  behind,'  arrive  after  its  appointed 
time  \2  S.  XX.  5). 

4.  The  contents  of  the  '  vision,'  Behold,  his  soul  is  puffed  up, 
it  is  not  even  in  him ;  but  the  just  (or,  the  righteous)  will  live 
by  his  faithfulness.  The  pronoun  his  refers  to  the  Chaldaean,  so 
that  the  meaning  is  :  The  soul  of  the  Chaldaean  is  elated  with  pride  ; 
but  the  righteous  zvill  live  by  his  faithfulness.  The  words  express 
a  moral  distinction  ;  and  the  distinction  carries  with  it  the 
different  destinies  of  the  Chaldaean  and  of  the  righteous  ;  des- 
truction (it  is  implied)  for  the  one,  and  life  for  the  other.  But 
the  distinction  is  one  which  may  not  be  verified  at  once  ;  the 
destruction  of  the  Chaldaean  may  be  deferred  for  many  years ; 
hence  the  stress  laid  in  v.  3  on  the  need  of  patience. 

even.  Or  smooth ,  plain  (cf.  Pr.  xi.  5  RVm. ;  Is.  xl.  3  RVm.), 
also  (RVm.)  straight  (Ez.  i.  7),  and  so  (in  a  moral  sense)  upright: 
the  antithesis  of  '■  swollen  '  or  '  puffed  up '  (assuming  this  word  to 
be  correct  ^)  is  an  indication  that  the  physical  idea  of  the  word 
is  predominant,  though  the  other,  doubtless,  is  also  present  as 
well. 

faithfulness.  Not  'faith,' — for  which  (Davidson)  'Heb.  has 
no  word.'  n3ra>«  means  primarily  steadiness,  firmness,  in  a  physical 
sense  (Ex.  xvii.  12,  of  the  hands  of  Moses)  :  then,  as  a  moral 
quality,  steadfastness,  trustworthiness,  faithfulness ;  see  especially 
sK.xii.  15  [Heb.  16],  xxii.  7,  'dealing  \n  faithftdness^  (in  handling 
money),  where  we  might  say  'honestly'  ;  often  parallel  with 
'  righteousness,'  i  S.  xxvi.  23 ;  Is.  xi.  5  ;  Jer.  v.  i  RVm. ;  Is.  lix.  4 

^  The  pron.  '  his  '  has  no  antecedent :  and  there  is  force  in  the 
remark  (We.,  Dav.)  that  we  want  a  substantive  to  which  this  pron. 
may  refer :  !jW  for  nS^:^  has  been  suggested — *  Behold,  as  for  the 
tmrighteous,  his  soul  is  not  even  {or  upright)  within  him.'  The 
predicate,  '  is  not  even  {or  upright),'  is,  however,  in  this  case  rather 
weak.  But  clause  a  balances  clause  b  so  imperfectly  that  even  on 
this  ground  it  may  well  be  doubted  whether  its  text  is  sound. 


HABAKKUK  2.  5.     H^  77 

a  Yea,  moreover,  wine  is  a  treacherous  dealer,  a  haughty  5 
man,  and  ^  that  keepeth  not  at  home ;  who  enlargeth  his 

*  Or,  ^ud  also  because  his  wine  .  ,  .  he  is  a  haughty  man 
^  Or,  he  shall  not  abide 

(EVV.  '  truth  ').  The  righteous  man — i.  e.  here  the  righteous 
Israelite — who  is  faithful  in  all  the  relations  of  life,  and  is  sincere 
and  upright,  in  heart  and  purpose,  has  in  his  character  a  principle 
of  permanence  which  cannot  be  shaken,  and  which,  whatever 
external  troubles  may  assail  him,  should  be  to  him  a  source  of 
moral  strength  and  security.  See  further  on  this  verse,  and  also 
on  the  quotations  of  it  in  the  N.  T.,  above,  pp.  62-64  ^ 

5-20.  A  series  of  woes,  each  denouncing  some  characteristic 
sin  of  the  Chaldaean,  and  threatening  him,  expressly  or  by 
implication,  with  condign  retribution  for  it.  As  the  text  stands, 
there  follow,  after  the  introductory  words  {vv.  5,  6*  ),  five 
paragraphs,  each  introduced  by  Ah !  (cf.  Is.  v.  8-24),  and  each 
purporting  to  be  spoken  {y.  6)  by  the  nations  whom  the  Chaldaean 
has  victimized.  As  the  prophet  proceeds,  however,  he  seems  to 
forget  V.  6,  and  to  speak  in  his  own  person ;  and  if  (see  the  next 
note)  V.  5  began  originally  with  Ah  !  the  words  spoken  by  the 
nations  may  be  confined  to  vv.  6^-8. 

5.  The  first  'woe,'  directed  against  the  ambition  of  the 
Chaldaeans  and  their  insatiable  lust  of  conquest. 

Yea,  moreover,  wine,  &c.  No  intelligible  sense  can  be 
extracted  from  these  and  the  following  words  :  '  wine '  is  out  of 
place  here,  the  context  relating  entirely  to  the  ambitious  doings  of 
the  Chaldaeans;  and  the  rendering '  keepeth  at  home  '  is  more  than 
doubtful.  No  entirely  satisfactory  emendation  has  been  suggested : 
the  best  is  to  read  nn  ah  !  for  ^"ri  'wine,'  though  this  leaves  '3  F]N1 
'yea,  moreover,'  as  an  unexplained  residuum,  which  nevertheless 
must  be  disregarded  :  we  shall  then  get.  Ah!  the  treacherous  (or 
ruthless)  dealer  (i.e.  the  Chaldaean,  as  i.  13),  the  haughty  (Prov. 
xxi.  24)  matt,  that  resteth  not  (mr  for  mr) — the  words  thus 
referring  to  the  restless  ambition  of  the  Chaldaeans. 

who  enlargeth  his  desire  as  Sheol,  &c.,  i.  e.  as  Hades,  or 

^  The  LXX,  partly  misunderstanding,  or  confusing,  the  Heb.,  and 
partly  reading  differently,  render  w.  s**,  4:  'If  he  tarry,  wait  for  him, 
for  coming  he  will  come  and  will  not  delay.  If  he  (one)  shrink  back, 
my  soul  [^e:  for  ^^rc:]  hath  no  pleasure  [nnsi  for  m^" — or,  more 
probably,  a  loose  rendering  of  mc]  in  him  ;  but  the  righteous  shall 
live  through  [lit.  from]  my  faithfulness  [\"i:TDNr:  for  \T2TDm].'  The 
quotations  of  v.  4**  in  Rom.  i.  17,  Gal.  iii.  11,  and  of  vv,  3**,  4,  in 
Heb.  X.  37  f.,  are  based  upon  this  version  of  the  LXX  (cf.  p.  63). 


78  HABAKKUK  2.  6.     H" 

desire  as  »  hell,  and  he  is  as  death,  and  cannot  be  satisfied, 
but  gathereth  unto  him  all  nations,  and  heapeth  unto  him 
6  all  peoples.  Shall  not  all  these  take  up  a  parable  against 
him,  and  a  taunting  ^  proverb  against  him,  and  say,  Woe 
to  him  that  increaseth  that  which  is  not  his !  how  long  ? 
^  Heb.  Sheol.  ^  Or,  tiddle 


the  Underworld  :  he  is  as  insatiate  as  the  grave,  or  as  Death 
(which  is  here  personified).  Cf.  Is.  v.  14  '  Therefore  Sheol  hath 
enlarged  her  desire^  and  opened  her  mouth  without  measure '  ;  Prov. 
xxvii.  20  *  Sheol  and  Abaddon  are  never  satisfied*  xxx.  15  f. 
'  Desire'  is  lit.  so«/— the  'soul '  in  the  psychology  of  the  Hebrews 
being  regarded  as  the  seat  of  desire  and  appetite  :  cf.  Ex.  xv.  9 
*My5o«/  shall  be  filled  with  them';  Is.  Ivi.  ii  'greedy,'  lit.  'strong 
of  sotd '  (see  more  fully  the  writer's  Parallel  Psalter,  p.  459  f.). 

but  gatheretlx,  &c.  Sweeps  all  nations  into  his  net. 
6*.  a  parable.  Rather,  a  taunt-songr.  To  define  the  exact 
meaning  of  mashdl  in  some  of  its  usages  is  very  difficult :  see 
Dr.  Gray's  Comment,  on  Numbers,  pp.  xiii — xiv,  299  f.,  344  f.  It 
means  properly  a  likeness  or  representation  ;  it  thus  (besides  its 
usual  sense  o{  proverb)  denotes  sometimes  (Ez.  xvii.  2,  xxiv.  3) 
ji.  parable  or  allegory,  i.  e.  a  representation  symbolizing,  in  indirect 
or  figurative  language,  something  else,  and  sometimes  (as  Nu. 
xxiii.  7,  18  ;  Job  xxvii.  i,  xxix.  i)  an  elevated  and  declaratory 
poetical  discourse.  Here,  Is,  xiv.  4,  and  Mic.  ii.  4,  it  is  used  of 
a  lamentation  over  the  fall  of  a  nation  or  its  ruler.  *  Parable '  in 
these  passages  suggests  a  wholly  incorrect  idea  ;  and  the  best 
rendering  is  probably  taunt-song  (cf.  Is.  xiv.  4  AVm.  'taunting 
speech '). 

and  a  figTire  (Prov.  h  6),  even  riddles,  in  regurd  to  him. 
Synonyms  for  a  '  taunt-song,'  derived  from  the  fact  that  its 
meaning  was  often  concealed  under  allusive,  enigmatic  figures  or 
expressions. 

6^-8.  The  taunt-song.  The  nations  tax  the  Chaldaeans  with 
the  spoliation  and  bloodshed  with  which  their  conquests  had  been 
eff'ected,  and  for  which,  they  declare,  a  just  retribution  will  be 
inflicted  on  them. 

Ah  I  (Nah.  iii.  i)  he  that  increaseth  that  which  is  not  his 
(by  plundering  other  nations).  There  is  probably,  as  in  v.  7,  an 
allusion  to  the  custom  of  taking  interest,  which  was  viewed  with 
disfavour  by  the  Jews,  and  stigmatized  by  them  as  unjust :  the 
verb  rendered  '  increaseth '  being  cognate  to  one  of  the  Hebrew 
words  for  *  interest '  (Prov.  xxviii.  8 ;  Lev.  xxv.  36 :  E\^. 
*  increase '). 


HABAKKUK  2.  7,  8.     H^  79 

and  that  ladeth  himself  with  pledges  !  Shall  they  not  rise  7 
up  suddenly  that  shall  »bite  thee,  and  awake  that  shall 
^  vex  thee,  and  thou  shalt  be  for  booties  unto  them  ? 
Because  thou  hast  spoiled  many  nations,  all  the  remnant  8 
of  the  peoples  shall  spoil  thee ;  because  of  men's  blood, 
and  for  the  violence  done  to  the  land,  to  the  city  and  to 
all  that  dwell  therein. 

*  Or,  exact  usury  of  thee        ^  Or,  toss  thee  to  and  fro 

ladeth  bimself  with  pledg-es.  The  Chaldaean  is  compared 
to  a  merciless  usurer  (Dt.  xxiv.  10),  who  compels  the  nations  to 
give  him  heavy  pledges  :  but  the  day  will  come  when  these 
pledges  will  have  to  be  repaid. 

*t.  The  retribution.  There  is  a  play  here  on  the  double  sense 
of  the  word  ndshak,  which  means  both  to  bite  (Gen.  xlix.  17),  and 
also  (metaphorically)  to  bite  offirom  the  principal  lent,  i.  e.  to  give 
interest :  the  ptcp.  nosltek  means  accordingly  a  giver  of  interest 
or  a  debtor,  and  the  subst.  neshek,  lit.  a  biting  ojf,  means  interest 
(EW.  usury).  The  Chaldaean  is  represented  as  a  creditor 
who  exacts  heavy  interest  :  the  victimized  nations  are  thus 
nosh^kim,  '  debtors 'S  but  also  'biters,'  who,  when  their  day 
comes,  will  punish  him  remorselessly  for  his  exactions. 

that  shall  vex  thee.  '  Vex  '  was  in  Old  English  a  stronger 
word  than  it  is  now,  and  corresponded  more  closely  to  the  Lat. 
vexare,  to  drag  to  and  fro;  it  is  now  inadequate  as  a  rendering 
of  the  Heb.  word  here  used.  Render  that  shall  shake  thee 
(cf.  RVm.),  viz.  to  make  thee  disgorge  thy  plunder,  or  disturb 
thee  from  thy  ill-gained  possessions. 

booties.  The  plural  is  intensive,  and  hints  at  the  amount 
and  variety  of  the  spoils  to  be  wrung  from  the  oppressor. 

8.  The  lex  talionis  will  be  put  in  force  against  the  Chaldaeans  : 
cf.  Is.  xiv.  2'',  xxxiii.  i. 

the  remnant  of  the  peoples':  i.  e.  those  who  have  escaped 
destruction,  whether  among  (Jos.  xxiii.  12),  or  outside  of,  the 
'  many  '  nations  despoiled  by  the  Chaldaeans. 

because  of  men's  blood,  &c.  Because  of  the  violence  done 
to  humanity.  '  City '  is  to  be  understood  collectively,  of  the  cities 
which  the  Chaldaeans  had  ravaged  or  burnt.  Cf.  the  description 
of  Babylon  as  the  *  hammer  of  the  whole  earth,'  Jer.  1.  23,  also 
li.  7,  85,  Is.  xiv.  6. 

*  Not,  as  RVm.,  they  that  exact  usury  of  thee^  which  would  be 
expressed  by  the  Hiphil  conj.  (Dt.  xxiii.  20),  not  by  the  Kal. 


8o  HABAKKUK  2.  9,  10.     H' 

9      Woe  to  him  that  getteth  an  evil  gain  for  his  house, 

that  he  may  set  his  nest  on  high,  that  he  may  be  dehvered 

10  from  the  hand  of  evil !    Thou  hast  consulted  shame  to 

thy  house,  by  cutting  off  many  peoples,  and  hast  sinned 

9-11.     The    second    'woe.'     The    rapacity   and   violence  by 
which  their  empire  had  been  established. 

Ah  I  he  that  g-etteth  an  evil  gain  for  his  house :  i.  e.  for  his 
dynasty  ;  the  '  evil  gain  '  thus  obtained  by  the  Chaldaean  being,  as 
the  following  words  signify,  employed  by  him  in  fortifying  and 
securing  his  abode. 

set  his  nest  on  higfh,  &c.  :  i.  e.  secure  himself  against 
calamity,  the  figure  being  derived  from  the  custom  of  certain 
birds,  especially  (Tristram,  NHB.  175)  the  'eagle'  or  Griffon- 
vulture  (see  on  i,  8),  of  building  their  nests  amid  inaccessible 
rocks,  along  the  steep  sides  of  gorges  and  defiles,  which  can  be 
reached  only  by  the  most  intrepid  cUmbers.  Cf.,  for  the  figure, 
Nu.  xxiv.  21  ;  Ob.  4  =  Jer.  xlix.  16. 

hand.  Fig.  for  power,  as  often  in  Heb.  :  e.g.  Ps.  xxii.  20, 
xlix.  15. 

of  evil :  i.  e.  calamity  from  assailants. 
10.  Thou  hast  purposed  shame  to  thy  house.  An  oxy- 
moron :  the  Chaldaean  of  course  planned  in  reality  the  safety 
of  his  own  house,  but  his  plan  resulted  in  its  confusion  and 
disgrace.  Cf.  Hos.  iv.  18  '  her  rulers  love  ignominy,'  i.  e.  love  the 
course  of  action  which  leads  to  it ;  and  the  similar  cases  in  which 
the  result  of  a  course  of  action  is  described  ironically  as  its 
purpose,  Hos.  viii.  4  ;  Is.  xxx.  i  ;  Jer.  vii.  18,  19  {Lex.  p.  775^). 
'  Consult '  in  RV.  is  used  here  as  in  Mic.  \n..  5,  in  the  sense,  now 
obsolete,  of  purposing  or  devising',  see  Murray,  Engl.  Did.,  who 
cites  from  Ussher  (1658),  'Vologeses  was  supposed  to  have 
consulted  the  invading  of  Armenia.' 

(even)  the  cutting-  off  of  many  peoples.  This  clause  explains 
what  the  Chaldaean  had  in  reality  purposed,  and  what  it  was  which 
had  led  to  the  'shame'  or  confusion  of  his  *  house,'  viz.  the  cutting 
off  (2  K.  X.  32)  of  many  peoples.  The  versions,  with  different 
vowels,  read  thou  hast  ad  off,  perhaps  rightly  (EW.  ''by  cutting 
off'  is  an  impossible  rendering). 

and  hast  sinned,  &c.  Render  :  forfeiting  thine  own  life. 
Hdid  is  used  here  in  its  primary  sense  of  missing  (Jud.  xx.  16,  in 
the  caus.  conj.,  '  let  (the  stone)  miss '),  Job  v.  24  RV.,  Prov.  viii. 
36  RVm.,  xix.  2  RVm.,  and  especially  xx.  2  'he  that  angereth 
himself  against  a  king  is  on  the  way  to  forfeit  his  own  life.'  In 
using  violence  towards  the  nations  the  Chaldaean  was  so  acting 
as  ultimatel}'^  to  bring  ruin  upon  himself. 


HABAKKUK  2.  11-15.     H^  81 

against  thy  soul.     For  the  stone  shall  cry  out  of  the  wall,  n 
and  the  beam  out  of  the  timber  shall  answer  it. 

Woe  to  him  that  buildeth  a  town  with   blood,   and  12 
stablisheth  a  city  by  iniquity  !     Behold,  is  it  not  of  the  13 
Lord  of  hosts  that  the  peoples  labour  for  the  fire,  and 
the  nations  weary  themselves  for  vanity  ?   For  the  earth  14 
shall  be  filled  with  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  the 
Lord,  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea. 

Woe  unto  him  that  giveth  his  neighbour  drink,  that  15 

11.  The  very  stones  and  wood  of  which  his  houses  and  palaces 
are  built  will  bear  witness  to  the  robbery  and  injustice  by  which 
they  were  procured. 

12-14.  The  third  'woe.'  The  cruelty  and  oppression  which 
had  given  them  the  means  of  building  and  beautifying  their  cities. 
The  allusion  may  be  either  to  the  plunder  and  bloodshed  by  which 
the  Chaldaean  enriched  his  coffers,  or  to  the  forced  labour  of  con- 
quered subjects,  by  which,  with  disregard  to  the  lives  lost  in  the 
process,  public  works  and  buildings  are  constructed  in  Eastern 
despotisms. 

12.  All  I  he  that  buildeth,  &c.  Cf.  Mic.  iii.  10  'Building  up 
Zion  with  blood,  and  Jerusalem  with  iniquity'  (viz.  by  forced 
labour,  wealth  gained  by  oppression  and  judicial  murders,  &c.  : 
cf.  Jer.  xxii.  13,  17,  of  Jehoiakim). 

13.  But  the  nations,  such  is  Yahweh's  decree,  toil  only  to 
satisfy  the  fire — for  fire  will  destroy  the  cities  they  have  built ; 
and  they  weary  themselves  only  for  vanity  (Jit.  'emptiness'),  for 
their  empires  will  fall  into  ruins.     Cf.  the  citation  in  Jer.  li.  ^&*. 

of:  i.e.  from  (as  often  in  Old  English  ;  cf.  Ps.  xxii.  25  PBV.) : 
the  Heb.  exactly  as  i  K.  xii.  24  (EVV.  'the  thing  is  of  {^=  from) 
me')  ;  Ps.  xxii.  25,  cxviii.  23,  «&c. 

14.  Reason  for  w.  12,  13.  The  civilizations  of  heathendom 
will  perish  ;  for  something  better  will  take  their  place  :  the  earth 
will  be  filled  with  the  knowledge  of  Yahweh's  glory  (as  mani- 
fested, viz.  in  their  overthrow:  see,  for  this  sense  of  'glory,'  Is. 
Ixvi.  i8,  19;  and  cf.  Ez.  xxviii.  22,  xxxix.  13,  21),  and  its  inhabi- 
tants will  no  longer  care  to  toil  for  the  fire.  The  verse  is  based 
upon  Is.  xi.  ^  (which  closes  the  description  of  the  blissful  reign 
of  the  ideal  king),  but  differs  from  it  both  in  wording  (especially 
in  the  addition  of  'the  glory  of)  and  in  application. 

15-17.  The  fourth  'woe.'  The  Chaldaeans'  savage  triumph 
over  the  nations  which  fell  into  their  power. 

15.  Ah  I  he  that  giveth  his  neighbour  drink,  &c.    Drunken- 


82  HABAKKUK  2.  i6.     H^ 

^addest  thy  ''^  venom  thereto^  and  makest  him  drunken 

1 6  also,  that  thou  mayest  look  on  their  nakedness  !     Thou 

art  filled  with  shame  for  glory :    drink  thou  also,  and 

c  be  as  one  uncircumcised :  the  cup  of  the  Lord's  right 

*  Or ^  pourest     ^  Or,  fury      '^  Or,  lei  iky /oreskin  be  uncovered 

ness  is  here  a  figure  of  the  prostration  and  helplessness  of  a 
conquered  people,  powerless  under  the  stupefying  or  paralysing 
effects  of  a  great  catastrophe  :  cf.  Nah.  iii.  ii  and  the  passages 
there  quoted. 

addest:  RVm.  pourest.  Both  renderings  are  uncertain. 
The  verb  used  occurs  in  the  sense  of  '  attach '  or  'join,*  i  S.  ii.  36, 
xxvi.  19,  Is.  xiv.  I,  and  (probably)  Job  xxx.  7,  though  this  is  not 
quite  the  same  as  that  of  adding  something  to  a  liquid  ;  and  the 
sense  ^  pour '  is  supported  by  the  Arabic,  and  by  the  derivative 
'overflowings'  in  Job  xiv.  19.     But  see  the  next  note. 

venom:  RVm,  fury.  The  word  [hemdh)  signifies  properly 
heat ;  hence  it  means  fig.  (a)  fury,  Nah.  i.  6,  and  often,  (b)  poison 
or  venotn,  Dt.  xxxii.  24,  33.  If  the  text  is  sound,  the  meaning 
will  thus  be  that  the  wine  is,  as  it  were,  heated,  or  strengthened, 
by  the  fury  (or  venom)  of  the  nations  being  mingled  with  it  so  as 
to  make  it  more  efficacious  in  producing  drunkenness.  But  the 
text  (see  the  last  note)  is  suspicious ;  and  the  clever  emendation 
of  Gratz  and  Wellh.,  which  involves  extremely  slight  change  in 
the  text,  may  safely  be  accepted  :  '  Ah  !  he  that  giveth  his  neigh- 
bour drink /fom  the  bowl  (Zech.  xii.  2)  of  his  fury,  and  maketh  him 
drunken  also !  * 

in  order  to  look,  &c.  That  he  may  gloat  over  the  spectacle 
of  his  exposure  (Gen.  ix.  21),  fig.  for  the  humiliation  and  dis- 
grace accompanying  his  'drunkenness.'  Cf.  Lam.  iv.  21^;  Nah. 
iii.  5^ 

16.  But  in  doing  this  the  Chaldaean  has  only  prepared  humilia- 
tion and  disgrace  for  himself. 

Thou  art  sated  with  ig-nominy  rather  than  ( =  and  not 
with)  gflory.  The  'prophetic'  past,  describing  the  future  as 
already  accomplished  :  the  Chaldaean  will  be  sated  (an  oxymoron) 
not  with  glory  but  with  ignominy.  The  same  two  words  are 
opposed  in  Hos.  iv.  7  'Their  glory  I  will  exchange  for  igno- 
miny.' 

drink  thou  also.  How  this  effect  will  be  produced  :  it  will 
now  be  the  Chaldaean's  turn  to  drink  ;  for  the  stupefying  draught 
which  he  has  given  the  nations  of  the  earth  to  drink  (cf.  Jer.  Ii.  7) 
will  soon  be  given  by  Yahweh  to  himself  (cf.  Jer.  xxv.  26  end). 

and  be  uncircumcised  (without  'as  one').  More  exactly, 
if  the  text  is  correct,  get  thee  a  foreskin,  i.  e.  become  an  object  of 


HABAKKUK  2.  17.     H^  S^ 

hand  shall  be  turned  unto  thee,  and  foul  shame  shall 
be  upon  thy  glory.     For  the  violence  done  to  Lebanon  17 
shall   cover  thee,  and   the   destruction   of  the   beasts, 
^  which  made  them  afraid ;    because  of  men's   blood, 
*  According  to  many  ancient  versions,  shall  make  thee  afraid. 

mockery.  But  the  figure  is  both  very  harsh  and  also  foreign  to 
the  context ;  so  that  Wellh.  is  almost  certainly  right  in  trans- 
posing two  letters  and  reading  with  LXX  (aa\ivQr]Ti  :  see  Zech. 
xii.  3)  and  stag-ger',  which  forms  a  good  sequel  to  'drink';  see 
Is.  li.  17,  22  ('the  cup  oi staggering') ;  and  cf.  Jer.  xxv.  15,  i6. 

the  cup  of  Yahweh's  rigrht  hand.  The  cup  of  His  wrath 
(Jer.  xxv.  15,  17,  28\  which  intoxicates,  and  renders  helpless, 
those  who  drink  it :  fig.  of  a  great  and  overwhelming  disaster.  Cf. 
Is.  li.  17,  22,  just  cited  ;  Jer.  xxv.  16,  27;  Ez.  xxiii.  31-33;  and 
especially  Lam.  iv.  21. 

he  turned.  Better,  come  round:  cf.  for  the  thought  Jer. 
xxv.  15  ;  Lam.  iv.  21.  'Be  turned'  is,  however,  no  doubt  meant 
here  in  the  now  obsolete  neuter  sense  of  turtt  round :  see  in  AV. 
Rev.  i.  12**,  compared  with  i.  12*  {Parallel  Psalter,  p.  483). 

17.  The  reason  why  this  doom  will  fall  upon  the  Chaldaean  :  the 
violence  wrought  by  him  in  the  world  will  recoil  upon  his  head. 

the  violence  done  to  Lebanon.  '  Lebanon '  might  be  in- 
tended to  typify  the  land  of  Israel  generally  (cf.  Is.  xxxiii.  9  ;  Jer. 
xxii.  20,  23)  ;  but  more  probably  it  is  meant  literally :  the  inscrip- 
tions of  the  Assyrian  kings  abound  with  accounts  of  the  amount 
of  timber  cut  down  in  the  forests  of  Amanus  or  Lebanon-  for 
building  temples  and  palaces  in  their  capitals,  and  also  of  their 
great  hunting  exploits  in  the  same  regions ;  and  the  Chaldaeans 
acted  in  these  respects  like  their  predecessors  (see  especially  Is. 
xiv.  8). 

and  the  destruction  of  the  heasts  shall  dismay  thee.  So 
we  must  read,  with  the  ancient  versions  and  RVm. ;  the  textual 
change  is  exceedingly  slight  ("]nn'  for  ]nn''). 

because  of  men's  blood,  &c.  The  same  words  as  in  v.  8, 
repeated  as  a  kind  of  refrain.  They  must  not  be  understood  as 
explanatory  of  the  two  preceding  clauses,  but  as  parallel  to  them, 
only  the  form  of  expression  being  changed  :  the  shame  described 
in  V.  16  will  overtake  the  Chaldaean  both  because  of  the  violence 

*  This  rendering  is  in  fact  already  suggested  by  Kimchi. 

^  From  Amanus,  KB.  \.  131  f.,  141,  161,  III.  ii.  S3,  loi,  109; 
from  Lebanon,  II.  23  (Tiglath-pileser),  135  (Esarhaddon),  235 
(Asshurbanipal) ;  cf.  Is.  xxxvii.  24;  III.  i.  15  and  39  (Nebuchad- 
nezzar). 

G   2 


&4  HABAKKUK  2.  18,  19.     H= 

and  for  the  violence  done  to  the  land,  to  the  city  and  to 

all  that  dwell  therein. 
18      What  profiteth  the  graven  image,  that  the  maker  thereof 

hath  graven  it ;  the  molten  image,  and  the  teacher  of  lies, 

that  the  maker  of  ^his  work  trusteth  therein,  to  make 
[9  dumb  idols?    Woe  unto  him  that  saith  to  the  wood, 

Awake ;  to  the  dumb  stone,  Arise  !     Shall  this  teach  ? 

*Or,  its 

done  to  Lebanon  and  the  beasts,  and  also  because  of  that  done 
to  human  beings. 

18-20.  The  fifth  ^  woe.'  Their  irrational  and  bootless  idolatry. 
On  the  analogy  of  the  other  ^  woes'  v.  19  should  precede  v.  18; 
and  this  order  would  improve  the  sequence  of  thought,  v.  19, 
stating  the  sin  generally,  being  followed  (as  in  the  other  cases) 
by  a  reference  to  its  effects,  viz.  the  inability  of  the  idol  to  help  or 
deliver  its  owner.  Even,  however,  with  this  transposition  some 
more  direct  application  of  what  is  said  to  the  case  of  the 
Chaldaeans  is  desiderated,  and  possibly  a  verse  to  this  effect  has 
fallen  out, 

18  (the  sequel,  really,  of  v.  19").  The  uselessness  of  idols 
in  the  hour  of  need.  For  the  thought  that  idols,  or  false  gods,  do 
not '  profit/ cf.  I  S.  xii.  21  ;  Jer.  ii.  8,  11,  xvi.  19  ;  Is,  xliv.  9,  10, 
Ivii.  12;  and  the  satire  upon  idol-makers,  Is.  xli.  6-7,  xliv.  9-20,  xlvi. 
6-7 ;  Jer.  x.  2-9;  on  the  idols  of  the  Chaldaeans,  also,  Is.  xxi.  9 ; 
Jer.  1.  38. 

the  teacher  of  lies.  I.  e,  the  idol  itself,  which  '  teaches ' 
through  its  priests,  and  so  sustains  the  delusion  that  it  is  a  god. 
The  word  'teach'  (or  'direct')  is  the  one  used  technically  of 
'  direction '  given  by  a  priest  in  the  name  of  his  god  :  see  on 
Hag.  ii.  11;  and  cf.  in  Gen.  xii.  6  the  '  directing  terebinth,'  of  an 
oracular  tree, 

the  maker  of  his  work.  More  exactly,  he  that  formed  his 
framed  thing  (Is.  xxix.  i6),  i.  e.  his  idol,  or  he  that  fortned  its 
(RVm.)  frame  (Ps.  ciii.  14),  gave  it  (the  idol)  its  particular  size 
and  contour  (AVm.  fashion) .  The  verb  (with  which  in  the  Heb. 
the  subst.  is  cognate)  means  properly  to  mould  as  a  potter;  but 
it  is  often  used  in  various  fig.  applications.  Of  idols,  as  here, 
Is.  xliv.  9,  10,  12,  and  above  in  the  present  verse  ('maker'). 

dtuuh  idols.  LXX,  ctSwXa  fcojipd ;  cf.  z  Cor.  xii.  2  (i5u\a 
afuva.  The  word  rendered  *  idols '  (Q'b'bN)  suggests  the  idea  of 
what  is  unsubstantial  and  worthless  (Job  xiii,  4  *  worthless 
physicians,'  Jer.  xiv.  14  'a  thing  of  nought')  ;  cf.  Is.  ii.  8,  i8,  20. 

19.  Awake  I  .  .  .  Arise  I  viz.  to  help  me  :  the  words  addressed 


HABAKKUK  2.  2c— 3.  i.     H^  A?  A  85 

Behold,  it  is  laid  over  with  gold  and  silver,  and  there  is 
no  breath  at  all  in  the  midst  of  it.     [A?]  But  the  Lord  20 
is  in  his  holy  temple:   «^let  all  the  earth  keep  silence 
before  him. 

[A]  A  prayer  of  Habakkuk  the  prophet,  set  to  Shig-  3 
ionoth. 
t  *  Heb.  be  silettt  before  hint,  all  the  eatih. 

elsewhere  to  Yahweh,  Ps.  xxxv.  23,  xliv.  23.    Cf.  similar  irony  in 
Dt.  xxxii.  37 f. ;  Jer.  ii.  28  ;  Is.  xlvi.  7. 

SbaU  this  teach?  Or,  direct?  i.e.  give  answers,  when 
consulted,  as  to  what  is  to  be  done.  An  exclamation  of  contempt 
at  the  infatuation  of  those  who  would  resort  to  such  an  object  for 
guidance. 

there  is  no  breath,  &c.  Cf.  Jer.  x.  14  ;  Ps.  cxxxv.  17  ;  also 
Dt.  iv.  28  ;  Ps.  cxv.  6.  See  developments  of  the  thought  of 
these  two  verses  in  Is.  xliv.  9-20,  and  the  prophecy  inserted  in 
Jeremiah's  book  which  now  stands  as  Jer.  x.  1-16. 

ao.  The  prophet's  thought  now  passes  by  contrast  (cf.  Jer.  x. 
10)  from  the  dumb  and  helpless  idol  to  Yahweh,  the  living  God  : 
He  is  in  His  heavenly  Temple,  where  He  sits  enthroned  as 
Governor  of  the  world,  watching  the  deeds  of  men,  and  ready,  if 
need  be,  to  interpose  and  punish  them  (Ps.  xi.  4,  6). 

be  silent  before  him.  In  the  Heb.  an  exclamation,  hush  I 
or  be  still!  so  Zeph.  i.  7;  Zech.  ii.  13  (Heb.  i7\  The  ex- 
pression is  perhaps  (but  not  certainly)  intended  to  form  the 
transition  to  ch.  iii. 

iii.  This  chapter  consists  of  a  lyric  cde,  in  which  the  poet, 
with  great  brilliancy  and  poetical  power,  develops  the  thought 
of  Yahweh's  coming  to  judgement,  and  executing  vengeance  on 
His  people's  foes.  The  *  prayer '  (as  it  is  called  in  the  tit!e>  is 
limited  to  t;.  2  ;  and  is  to  the  effect  that  Yahweh  will  '  revive'  His 
work  'in  the  midst  of  years,'  i.e.  renew  or  repeat,  in  the  midst 
of  the  years  that  have  passed  since  the  Exodus,  the  great  '  work ' 
(Ps.  xliv.  i)  of  deliverance  wrought  by  Him  of  old.  As  an  answer 
to  this  prayer  the  prophet  pictures  a  theophany,  in  which 
Yahweh  appears  to  judge  and  to  redeem.  The  theophany  is 
described  in  language  and  imagery  suggested  by  the  Exodus  and 
by  the  terms  of  Dt.  xxxiii.  2,  Jud.  v.  4,  5.  The  scene  is  laid  in  the 
desert  region  on  the  S.  of  Judah  :  a  great  thunderstorm  comes 
up  from  the  mountains  of  Edom  and  Paran  ;  it  bursts  over  the 
wilderness;  neighbouring  peoples  are  in  dismay;  and  the  op- 
pressors of  Israel  are  scattered  before  it.     In  the  description  past 


86  HABAKKUK  3.  2.     A 

O  Lord,  I  have  heard  ^  the  report  of  thee,  and  ^  am 

afraid : 
O  Lord,  revive  thy  work  in  the  midst  of  the  years, 
In  the  midst  of  the  years  make  it  known ; 
^  Or,  thy  fame  **  Or,  was 

tenses  predominate  (see  in  the  Heb.  vv.  3*,  6,  8*,  10,  &c.),  the 
future,  in  accordance  with  a  frequent  usage  of  the  prophets  (see 
e.  g.  Is.  ix.  2  ff.,  xxxiii.  3),  being  vividly  imagined  as  past,  and 
described  accordingly.  In  English  we  should  more  naturally  in 
such  a  case  use  presents  (cf.  RVm.  on  v.  3).  For  other  descrip- 
tions of  a  coming  deliverance,  painted  in  colours  suggested  by  the 
Exodus,  see  Is.  xi.  15,  16,  xliii.  16,  17,  xlviii.  21,  Hi.  12.  On 
the  question  of  the  authorship  of  the  ode,  see  above,  pp.  59  f. 

1.  The  title  resembles  those  in  the  Psalms,  e.  g.  Ps.  xc. 

set  to  Shigyonotli.  Shigyonoth  would  be  the  plural  of 
Shiggdyon,  which  appears  in  the  title  of  Ps.  vii,  '•  ShiggayOn  of 
David.'  The  meaning,  like  that  of  most  of  the  other  musical 
terms  occurring  in  the  titles  of  the  Psalms,  is  obscure  ;  the  verb 
shdgdh  means  to  go  astray  or  wander  (Ez.  xxxiv.  6;  through 
wine,  Is.  xxviii.  7  [thrice]  ;  and  morally,  to  err^  i  S.  xxvi.  21  at.) ; 
hence  it  has  been  supposed  that  Shiggdyon  may  denote  a  dith}'- 
rambic  poem,  written  in  wandering  irregular  rhj'thms,  and  '  set 
to  Shigyonoth,'  one  sung  to  music  of  a  similar  character  :  but  this 
explanation  has  only  the  value  of  a  conjecture. 

2.  I  have  heard.  The  prophet  speaks  most  probably  in  the 
name  of  the  community,  as  he  does  clearly  in  v.  14  :  cf  similarly  Is. 
Ixi,  10  f  ;  Jer.  v.  19  f.,  x.  19  f ,  24;  Mic.  vii.  7-10,  &c.  {LOT.,  p.  390). 

the  report  of  thee,  and  am  afraid.  The  prophet  had  'heard 
the  report '  (Dt.  ii.  25),  or  '  fame  '  (Nu.  xiv.  15  ;  Is.  Ixvi.  19  ;  i  K.  x. 
i),  of  what  Yahweh  had  done  at  the  Exodus  ;  and,  realizing  it 
vividly,  was  *  afraid '  (cf  Ex.  xiv.  31)  :  when  God  appears  in  judge- 
ment, even  though  His  judgement  alights  onl}'^  on  His  foes,  all 
who  witness  it  will  naturally  be  filled  with  awe  and  dread. 

revive  thy  work,  &c.  The  prophet  looks  back  to  the  great 
'work'  of  the  Exodus,  and  forward  into  the  indefinite  future; 
and,  fearful  lest  Yahweh  may  still  defer  His  redemption,  praj-s 
that,  'in  the  midst'  of  this  long  period  'of  years,' He  will  interpose 
quickly  on  His  people's  behalf. 

make  (it)  known.  Wellh.,  Now.,  Marti,  adopt  the  reading 
which  underlay  the  rendering  of  LXX,  make  thyself  known  (cf. 
Ps.  ix.  16,  xlviii.  3 ;  Ez.  xx.  9,  xxxviii.  23)*. 

*  LXX  for  most  of  the  last  clause  and  for  this  have  the  curious 
and  in  part  double  and  even  treble  rendering,  '  In  the  midst  of  two 


HABAKKUK  3.  3.     A  87 

In  wrath  remember  mercy. 
God  ^  came  from  Teman, 

*  Or,  Cometh  (and  similarly  to  the  end  of  ver.  15) 


In  wrath  remem'ber  mercy.  Yahweh's  wrath  with  Israel 
might  lead  Him  to  defer  His  interference,  and  allow  the  time  of 
trial  and  waiting  to  be  protracted  :  he  prays,  therefore,  that  this 
may  be  shortened,  and  that  in  His  anger  with  Israel  He  \yill 
remember  mercy.  Others  understand  the  '  wrath  '  of  that  which 
the  Judge  will  manifest  when  He  appears  in  judgement,  and 
which  the  prophet  prays  may  not  alight  upon  Israel;  but  the 
form  in  which  the  clause  is  expressed  suggests  that  it  does  not 
introduce  a  contrast  to,  or  qualification  of,  the  two  preceding 
clauses,  but  is  rather  parallel  to  them. 

3-7.  The  theophany.  The  poet  describes  a  great  storm, 
advancing  from  the  south,  the  region  of  Paran  and  Sinai :  in  the 
dark  thunder-clouds  he  conceives  Yahweh  to  be  concealed ;  the 
lightning-flashes  which  illumine  heaven  and  earth  disclose  glimpses 
of  the  dazzling  brightness  immediately  about  Him  ;  the  earth 
quakes,  the  hills  sink,  and  neighbouring  desert-tribes  look  on  in 
dismay.  The  Hebrewshabitually  pictured  Yahweh  as  borne  along 
in  the  thunder-cloud  (see  Ps.  xviii.  7,  and  cf.  on  Nah.  i.  s\  S)  ' 
the  usual  word  for  *  thunder '  in  Heb.  is  voices  (viz.  of  Yahweh), 
e.  g.  Ex.  ix.  23  (Heb.),  28  (cf.  RVm.) ;  1  S.  xii.  17  ;  and  cf. 
Ps.  xxix.  3-9.  For  illustrations,  from  an  actual  storm  in  the  same 
region,  of  many  traits  in  the  poet's  imagery,  see  pp.  99  f. 

from  Teman.  A  district  in  the  N.  or  NW.  of  Edom 
(Ez.  XXV.  13 ;  Am.  i.  12  a/.).  Cf.  Dt.  xxxiii.  2,  Jud.  v.  4,  where 
Yahweh  is  represented  similarl3'  as  coming  to  the  help  of  His 
people  from  Edom. 

animals  [a  misreading  or  confusion  of  the  Heb.  words  rendered 
rightly,  *  In  the  midst  of  years  revive  it  ']  thou  shalt  be  known, 
when  the  years  draw  nigh  thou  shalt  be  recognized,  when  the  time 
approaches  thou  shalt  be  declared.'  These  words  were  supposed  by 
the  Fathers  to  be  a  prediction  of  the  birth  of  Christ;  and  the  first 
clause  has  had  considerable  influence  upon  Christian  art;  for  it  is 
the  origin  of  the  pictorial  representations  of  the  Infant  Saviour, 
lying  in  the  stable'at  Bethlehem  between  an  ox  and  an  ass  (these  two 
animals  being  suggested  by  Is.  i.  3,  which  was  interpreted  mystically 
of  Christ).  See  on  this  subject  an  article  by  A.  West,  in  the 
Contemp.  Review,  Dec.  1903,  pp.  873  ff.,  according  to  whom  (p.  879) 
this  interpretation  of  the  LXX  rendering  of  Hab.  iii.  2^  is  first  found  at 
the  end  of  the  fifth  century  in  the  Gospel  of  Pseudo-Matthew  (trans- 
lated into  Latin  by  Jerome)  :  see  also  ibid.  p.  88 1  on  other  patristic 
exegesis  of  the  same  rendering. 


S$  HABAKKUK  3.  4,  5.     A 

And  the  Holy  One  from  mount  Paran.  [Selah 

His  glory  covered  the  heavens, 

And  the  earth  was  full  of  his  praise. 

And  /lis  brightness  was  as  the  light ; 

He  had  «■  rays  co7?ii7ig  forth  ^  from  his  hand  : 

And  there  was  the  hiding  of  his  power. 

Before  him  went  the  pestilence, 

*  Heb.  horns.  *  Or,  at  his  side 

the  Holy  One.  Who  cannot  endure  wickedness  (i.  13),  and 
who  will  judge  the  world,  and  destroy  the  wicked  oppressor  out 
of  it  (iii.  12-14).  Cf.  the  same  title  (also  used  absolutely)  in 
Is.  xl.  25  :  usually  it  is  the  '  Holy  One  of  Israel '  (cf.  on  i.  12). 

from  Paran.  The  elevated  region  between  the  Sinaitic 
peninsula  and  Kadesh-barnea  (Gen.  xxi.  21  ;  Nu.  xii.  16,  xiii.  26)  : 
cf.  especially  Dt  xxxiii.  2. 

His  glory.  Rather,  His  majesty,  as  of  a  King,  Ps.  xxi.  5'', 
civ.  i'^  (in  each  render  '  majesty  and  state ')  :  here  with  reference 
to  the  splendour  of  the  lightnings,  which  seemed  to  cover  the 
whole  heavens  (cf.  p.  100).     Not  the  word  used  in  Ps.  xix.  i. 

his  praise.  Not  the  praise  addressed  to  Him  by  men,  but 
that  in  God  which  evokes  men's  praise,  His  splendour  or  jflory. 
Cf.  similar  uses  of  '  praise '  in  Is.  Ix.  18,  Ixii.  7  ;  Jer.  xlviii.  2, 
li.  41. 

4.  And  his  brightness  was  as  the  light,  the  full  light  of  the 
sun  (Job  xxxi.  26  RVm.).  The  rendering  implies  two  slight 
changes  in  the  text  (in::  for  ttj:  ;  and  rvrv  for  rrnn)  ;  but  this,  or 
something  similar,  must,  it  seems,  be  adopted. 

He  had  rays  (lit.  homs :  see  Ex.  xxxiv.  29  RVm.)  coming 
forth  at  his  side  (i.  e.  at  either  side),  alluding  to  the  flashes  of 
lightning  accompanying  the  storm.  Cf.  Dt.  xxxiii.  2  *  at  his  right 
hand  was  a  burning  fire  ^  for  them ' ;  and  Ps.  xviii.  12,  1.  3, 

And  there :  viz.  where  the  lightnings  played  ;  the  lightnings 
forming,  as  it  were,  a  veil  concealing  Yahweh's  full  'power,'  or 
Godhead. 

5.  Yahweh  is  figured  as  a  king,  making  a  victorious  progress 
through  his  enemies'  countr}'^:  Pestilence  and  Fever  are  personified 
as  His  attendants,  the  one  preceding  Him  as  His  armour-bearer 
(i  S.  xvii.  7),  or  courier  (2  S.  xv.   i),  the  other  following  behind 

*  An  emended  text :  *  fiery  law '  cannot  be  right — the  word  for 
*  law '  being  a  Persian  one,  only  found  in  very  late  Hebrew  (Ezr.  viii. 
36;  Est.  i.  S,  &c.). 


HABAKKUK  3.  6.     A  89 

And  a  fiery  bolts  went  forth  at  his  feet. 

He  stood,  arid  ^  measured  the  earth ;  < 

He  beheld,  and  drove  asunder  the  nations  : 

And  the  eternal  mountains  were  scattered, 

The  everlasting  hills  did  bow ; 

*  Or,  burning  coals  ^  Or,  shook 

(i  S.  XXV.  42)  as   His  servant,  and  executing  His  behests  (cf. 
I  S.  xiv.  13). 

the  pestilence.     Lev.  xxvi.  25  ;  Ps.  xci.  3,  6  al. 

And  flery  darts  went  forth  at  his  feet  (i.  e.  as  He  v(^ent 
along).  Resheph  is  a  pointed,  darting  flame  (Cant.  viii.  6  ;  Ps.  Ixxvi. 
3  RVm.  ;  Ixxviii.  48  poet,  for  lightnings),  here,  as  in  Dt.  xxxii. 
24,  used  poetically  of  the  fiery  darts,  sent  by  Yahweh,  to  which 
either  the  poet,  or  popular  imagination,  attributed  fever,  or  other 
pestilential  complaint.  Reshef  or  Reshuf  seems  to  have  been  the 
name  of  the  Fire-  or  Lightning-god  in  Phoenician  '. 

6.  The  storm  now  descends  from  heaven,  and  approaches  the 
earth,  and  its  effects,  as  it  bursts  close  upon  it,  are  described  :  the 
ground  rocks,  mountains  are  cleft,  and  human  beings  start  back 
in  terror.  The  description  may  be  merely  that  of  the  storm  (cf. 
p.  100)  ;  or  the  theophany  may  be  pictured  as  accompanied  by  an 
earthquake. 

measured.  The  meaning  has  been  supposed  to  be,  measured 
with  the  eyes,  i.  e.  surveyed  ;  but  this  is  very  improbable.  We 
may  read,  either  with  RVm.  shook  (for  this  implies  a  slight 
change  in  the  text  2),  or  with  Wellh.  made  the  earth  to  melt^  (cf. 
Nah.  i.  5,  and  especially  Am.  ix.  5).  For  similar  effects  represented 
as  produced  by  Yahweh's  touching  or  marching  over  the  earth, 
cf.  Am.  ix.  5  ;  Mic.  i.  3,  4  ;  Nah.  i.  5. 

He  looked,  and  made  the  nations  start  (or,  leap)  ;  the 
Judge's  look  made  them  quail  with  terror.  Not  drove  asunder: 
see  Lev.  xi.  21  ('to  leap'),  Job  xxxvii.  i^  (read  'starteth'  for  the 
colourless  *  is  moved  '). 

were  scattered.  Were  shattered,  cleft  asunder  before  Him 
(cf.  Mic.  i.  4).     See  Jer.  xxiii.  29  ('breaketh  in  pieces'). 

did  bow.  Better,  did  sink  (cf.  Job  ix.  13  '  did  stoop  ')— viz. 
in  the  earthquake  accompanying  the  tempest.  The  words  eternal 
and  everlasting  would   probably  be  better   rendered   ancient  and 

^  Cf.  the  writer's  Comm.  on  Deut.  pp.  367  f. ;  Maspero,  Struggle 
of  the  Nations,^.  156;  Cooke, North-Sem.  Inscriptions, pp.  sSi., 8g. 

2  CTODM  (cf.  Is.  xxlv.  19)  for  nn^l.  There  is  no  word  HID  or  ^10 
meaning  'to  shake.' 

^  ym'^  for  moM. 


go  HABAKKUK  3.  7,  8.     A 

a  His  goings  were  as  of  old. 

I  saw  the  tents  of  Cushan  in  affliction  : 

The  curtains  of  the  land  of  Midian  did  tremble. 

Was  the  Lord  displeased  against  the  rivers  ? 

Was  thine  anger  against  the  rivers, 

Or  thy  wrath  against  the  sea, 

That  thou  didst  ride  upon  thine  horses, 

Upon  thy  chariots  of  salvation  ? 

*  Or,  His  ways  are  everlasting 

primaeval,  the  point  being  that  mountains  which  had  been  fixed 
immovably  for  long  centuries  now  gave  way :  see  the  same  two 
expressions  in  parallelism  in  Gen.  xlix.  26  RVm.;  cf.  Dt.  xxxiii.  15 
(in  the  Heb.  a  different  word  for  ancient). 

His  goingfs  were  as  of  old  (the  word  rendered  everlasting  in 
the  preceding  clause).  His  progress  (Ps.  Ixviii.  24),  as  the  poet 
pictured  it,  was  as  it  had  been  of  old,  when  He  came  forth  at  the 
Exodus  for  the  deliverance  of  His  people.  The  marg.  (  =  AV.)  is 
not  probable. 

7.  As  of  yore,  at  the  Exodus  (Ex,  xv.  14-16),  neighbouring  tribes 
quaked  with  terror. 

Cushan.  Only  mentioned  here.  Presumably  some  neigh- 
bouring tribe  to  Midian. 

curtains.  I.  e.  tent-hangings  ;  in  parallelism  with  *  tents,'  as 
Is.  liv.  2  ;  Jer.  iv.  20,  x.  20,  xlix.  29. 

the  land  of  Midian.  Properly  the  country  on  the  E.  side 
of  the  Gulf  of  Akabah  ;  but  Midianites  were  also  settled  in  the 
Sinaitic  Peninsula  (Ex.  iii.  i,  xviii.  i),  and  apparently  (i  K.  xi. 
18)  between  Edom  and  Paran.  Named  as  one  of  the  peoples 
who  would  be  among  the  first  to  be  alarmed,  as  Yahweh  came 
forth  from  '  Teman  '  and  '  Paran  '  {v,  3). 

8-15.  The  motive  of  the  theophany.  'Was  Yahweh  angry,' 
the  poet  asks,  '  with  seas  or  rivers,  that  He  thus  came  forth  riding 
through  the  heavens  ? '  and  again  he  depicts,  in  splendid  imagery, 
the  course  of  the  storm  {vv.  9-1 1).  Vv.  13-15  give  the  answer  to 
the  poet's  question  ;  it  was  to  save  His  people,  and  annihilate 
those  who  sought  to  destroy  it. 

8.  asrainst  the  rivers  (first  time).  Read  probably,  with  Gratz, 
merely  dropping  one  letter,  ajfainst  the  mountains :  this  both 
relieves  the  tautology,  and  is  suited  to  the  context  {v.  6). 

of  salvation.  Better,  of  deliverance  or  victory :  the  Heb. 
word — which,  as  Arabic  shows,  means  properly  breadth,  spacious- 
ness, freedom— haying  the  same  sense  of  a  material  deliverance 


HABAKKUK  3.  9,  10.     A  gi 

Thy  bow  was  made  quite  bare ;  9 

a  The  oaths  to  the  tribes  were  a  sure  word.      [Selah 

Thou  didst  cleave  the  earth  with  rivers. 

The  mountains  saw  thee,  and  ^'  were  afraid ;  k 

The  tempest  of  waters  passed  by : 

■  Or,  Sworn  were  the  chastisements  (Heb.  rods)  o/thy  word 
''Or,  were  in  pain 

which  it  has  in  Ex.  xiv.  13,  i  Sam  xiv.  45,  Ps.  iii.  8,  and  else- 
where (cf.  the  writer's  Parallel  Psalter,  pp.  455  f.). 

The  'horses'  and  'chariots'  are  here  the  storm-clouds,  upon 
which  Yahweh  is  elsewhere  also  pictured  as  'riding,'  Is.  xix.  i ; 
Ps.  xviii.  10,  civ.  3  :  cf.  Dt.  xxxiii.  26  ;  Ps.  Ixviii.  33. 

9.  Thy  bow  was  made  quite  bare ;  i.  e.  taken  out  of  its 
covering  for  use.  The  arrows  (?;.  11)  which  the  poet  pictures  it 
as  discharging  will  be  here  the  lightnings  or  thunder-bolts  which 
strike  the  earth  in  the  storm. 

The  oaths  to  the  tribes,  &c.  The  text  of  this  clause  must 
be  corrupt :  not  only  are  the  renderings  of  both  RV.  and  RVm. 
very  questionable,  but  any  mention  of  the  tribes  is  altogether  out 
of  place  :  it  is  only  the  stonn  which  is  here  described,  and  a  refer- 
ence to  the  deliverance  of  the  people  follows  only  in  vv.  12-14. 
What  is  really  wanted  here  is  some  description  of  the  discharge 
of  arrows  from  the  bow.  No  certain  emendation  can  be  proposed. 
Marti,  supposing  '  thy  quiver  '  to  have  been  lost  at  the  beginning 
of  the  verse,  conjectures  (partly  on  the  basis  of  a  group  of  LXX 
MSS.),  Thou  didst  wholly  empty  thy  quiver,  thy  bow  was  satiate  (for 
the  figure,  cf.  Jer.  xlvi,  10)  with  shafts  [the  word  rendered  in  the 
marg.  <  rods ']. 

Thou  didst  cleave  the  earth  into  rivers.  The  rush  of  waters, 
pouring  down  the  mountain-sides,  dug  out  channels  in  the  earth, 
and  filled  the  dry  wadys  with  torrents.     See  p.  100. 

IQ.  The  continued  description  of  the  storm  :  torrents  of  rain 
pour  down  ;  the  waves  of  the  deep  roar  aloud,  and  mount  high, 
as  though  in  amazement.  O^  vv.  10,  11  there  are  evident  reminis- 
cences in  Ps.  Ixxvi.  16-17  (of  the  storm  accompanying  the  passage 
of  the  Red  Sea). 

were  afraid.  Better,  were  in  pang's — the  word  is  com- 
monly used  of  the  pangs  of  childbirth  :  in  the  thunder  and  earth- 
quake the  mountains  seemed  to  quiver  and  be  in  throes.  Cf. 
P.S.  Ixxvii.  16*  *  The  waters  satv  thee,  O  God,  the  waters  saw  thee, 
they  ivere  in  pangs.'' 

The  tempest  of  waters  passed  by.  Rather,  passed  on, 
advanced.     In  the  Hebrew,  however,  the  words  differ  only  by  two 


^2  HABAKKUK  3.  it,  12.     A 

The  deep  uttered  his  voice, 

And  lifted  up  his  hands  on  high. 

The  sun  and  moon  stood  still  in  their  habitation ; 

At  the  light  of  thine  arrows  as  they  went, 

At  the  shining  of  thy  glittering  spear. 

Thou  didst  march  through  the  land  in  indignation, 

Thou  didst  thresh  the  nations  in  anger. 

letters   from    Ps.  Ixxvii.   7*  the  clouds  flooded  forth  uaters ;   and 
Now.,  Wellh.,  Marti  would  read  accordingly  here. 

uttered  its  voice :  i.  e.  roared  (Ps,  xciii.  3).  Cf.  Ps.  Ixxvii. 
17^  '  the  skies  uttered  their  voice'  The  *  deep '  may  be  the 
neighbouring  sea  {v.  15);  or  (p.  100)  the  roaring  torrent  produced 
by  the  storm  in  a  mountain  wady  (cf.  Ps.  xlii.  7). 

(And)  lifted  up  its  hands  on  high.     Poet,  for,  its  waves 
mounted  high,  the  'deep'  being  personified.      But  Wellh.,  Now., 
Marti   are   probably    right    in  regarding   the  clause  as   corrupt, 
and  as  forming  properly  the  beginning  oi  v.  11,  the  first  two  lines 
of  which  would  then  read  somewhat  as  follows  (the  exact  words 
of  which  line  i  is  a  corruption  are  uncertain)  : — 
The  sun  [withdrew  its  light], 
77?^  moon  stood  still  in  its  habitation  {"rhyC), 
Observe  that  in  v.  11  there  is  no  '  and'  in  the  Heb.  before  '  the 
moon,'  and  the  verb  'stood'  is  singular.     Cf.  LXX  (Codd.  23, 
62,  86,   147),  0WJ  TO  Xa/xirpov  toG  jjXi'oy  CTrt'oxcv  to  bk  (piyyos  rrjs 
a(Krjvr)S  kaTadrj. 

11.  Sun  and  moon  are  in  retirement,  hidden  by  thedark  thunder- 
clouds, and  eclipsed  by  the  brilliant  play  of  the  lightnings. 

stood  still  in  (their)  habitation.  Did  not  come  forth,  re- 
mained  hidden  in  the  abode  in  which,  as  the  Hebrews  imagined, 
they  regularly  passed  the  night.     Cf.  the  '  tent '  of  Ps.  xix.  4. 

At  the  light  of  thina  arrows  as  they  went  abroad,  &:c. 
Fig.  for  the  lightnings  (Ps.  xviii.  14,  Ixxvii.  17),  which  lit  up  the 
heavens,  and  made  the  sun  and  moon,  so  to  say,  afraid  to  show 
themselves.     Cf.  Ps.  Ixxvii.  17"^  '  yea,  thine  arroius  went  abroad.^ 

12-15.  Hitherto  the  poet  has  described  the  effe  ts  of  Yahvveh's 
appearance  upon  nature  :  he  now  proceeds  to  describe  how  it 
would  result  further  in  the  deliverance  of  Israel,  and  in  a  judgement 
upon  Israel's  foes. 

12.  In  indignation  thou  didst  march  along  the  earth,  In 
anger  thou  didst  thresh  (or,  trample  down)  the  nations.  The 
motive  by  which  Yahweh  was  actuated  is  placed  first  for  emphasis. 
March,  as  Jud.  v.  4  ;  Ps.  Ixviii.  7.  Thresh  :  the  word  means 
properly  to  tread  or  trample  (Dt.  xxv.  4  '  when  he  treadeth  out  the 


HABAKKUK  3.  13.     A  93 

Thou  ^wentest  forth  for  the  salvation  of  thy  people,  13 

^  For  the  salvation  of  thine  anointed ; 

c  Thou  d  woundedst  the  head  out  of  the  house  of  the 

wicked, 
Laying  bare  the  foundation  even  unto  the  neck. 

[Selah 

*  Or,  art  come 

^  Or,  For  salvation  (or  victory)  with  thine  anointed 
Or,  Thou  didst  smite  off  the  head  from  the  house  &c. 


corn ')  ;  for  threshing  was  (and  is  still)  often  performed  in  the 
East  by  animals,  usually  oxen  (Dt.  loc.  at.),  which  were  driven 
round  the  threshing-floor  till  their  hoofs  trampled  out  the  grain  ^ 
For  the  same  fig.  use  of  the  word,  see  Mic.  iv.  13,  Is.  xli.  15 ;  cf. 
2  K.  xiii.  7. 

13-14.  The  object  of  the  theophany  is  here  at  last  stated 
explicitly.  Margins  a,  d,  on  this  verse,  and  a  on  vv.  14,  15,  are  in- 
tended to  throw  the  description  into  the  present,  in  conformity 
with  the  first  margin  on  v.  3. 

13.  salvation :  i.  e.  deliver auce,  as  v.  8. 

tMne  anointed  2.  Either  the  king — i,  e.  the  Davidic  king  in 
the  abstract,  not  necessarily  Jehoiakim— or,  as  others  (Hitz.,  Ew., 
We.,  Dav.)  prefer  (agreeably  with  the  parallelism  with  line  i), 
the  people,  who,  at  least  in  later  times,  are  sometimes  regarded  as 
inheriting  the  position  and  dignity  of  David.  The  word  has  been 
supposed  to  have  the  same  sense  in  Ps.  xxviii.  8,  Ixxxiv.  9,  Ixxxix. 
38, 51 :  cf.  cv.  15  (where  it  is  appHed,  in  the  plural,  to  the  patriarchs). 

Thou  didst  shatter  the  head  off  the  house,  &c.  Mdliaz 
is  to  crush  or  wound  severely  by  a  heavy  blow, — on  the  head,  as 
here,  Jud.  v.  26,  Ps.  Ixviii.  21  f  smite  through'),  ex.  6  ('strike 
through  ') :  seeing  that '  from  '  follows,  RVm.  'smite  off'  is  hardly 
too  strong.  *  The  foe  is  compared  to  a  house,  the  top  of  which  is 
smitten  away  from  it,  so  that  it  falls  to  pieces,  and  the  foundation 
is  laid  bare'  (Dav.). 

Laying  bare  the  foundation  :  viz.  by  destroying  the  house  so 
completely  that  the  foundations  appear  (Mic.  i.  6) ;  cf.  Ps.  cxxxvii. 
7  'Lay  it  bare,  lay  it  bare,  even  to  the  foundation  in  it.'  Even 
unto  the  neck  seems  to  mean,  up  to  the  top  of  the  walls,  after  their 
'head,'  or  roof,    had   been   knocked  away.     Several    moderns, 

*  Special  implements  were,  however,  also  used,  as  the  threshing- 
board,  and  threshing- wagon :  seethe  writer's  y^e/  andAtnos,  pp.  227  f., 
or  Whitehouse,  Primer  of  Heb.  Antiquities^  pp.  87,  92. 

*  The  very  strange  nx  rT'7  must  doubtless  be  corrected. 


94  HABAKKUK  3.  14.     A 

Thou  ^  didst  pierce  with  his  own  staves  the  head  of 

his  b  warriors : 
They  came  as  a  whirlwind  to  scatter  me  i 
Their  rejoicing  was  as  to  devour  the  poor  secretly. 
■•  Or,  hast  pierced  ^  Or,  hordes  Or,  villages 

however,  omitting  a  letter,  read  '  even  unto  the  rock,'' — i.  e.  the 
rock  upon  which  the  foundation  rested. 

14.  And  so  the  foes  who  sought  to  ruin  Israel  are  destroyed 
themselves. 

with  his  own  staves.  If  the  text  is  correct,  the  meaning 
will  be  that  the  enemy  were  thrown  into  a  panic,  and  turned  their 
weapons  against  themselves  (cf.  Zech.  xiv.  13).  But,  as  Dav. 
remarks,  there  is  nothmg  in  the  context  to  suggest  such  an  idea  ; 
and  probably  we  should,  with  Ew.  and  others,  as  well  as  Codd. 
23,  62,  86,  147  of  LXX,  read  thy  staves.  The  word  rendered 
staves  often  denotes  a  rod  or  staff,  whether  used  as  a  support  in 
walking  (Ex.  iv.  2,  &c.),  or  for  beating  with  (Is.  ix.  4,  xiv.  5)  ;  but 
only  here,  and  (possibly)  in  v.  9,  a  warlike  implement. 

the   head.     The  word  is   used  collectively  =  heads. 

of  his  warriors.  The  word  thus  rendered  is  of  unknown 
meaning;  the  rendering  wairiors  (so  Vulg.  ;  cf.  LXX,  Pesh.,  rulers, 
leaders)  being  merely  a  conjecture  suggested  by  the  context.  Words 
apparently  allied  mean  open  country  (Zech.  ii.  4  ;  see  the  note), 
and  dwellers  in  the  open  country,  or  peasantry  (Dt.  iii.  5  lit.  *  cities 
of  the  peasantry ')  :  hence  RVm.  hordes,  as  though  the  word 
denoted  dwellers  on  steppes,  such  as  the  Scythians,  who  actually 
overran  Western  Asia  about  630  b.  c.  (Hdt.  i.  104-6),  and  who 
came,  not  as  a  regular,  organized  army,  but  as  wild,  undisciplined 
hordes.  But  the  correctness  of  the  text  is  open  to  suspicion, 
though  no  obvious  emendation  suggests  itself. 

came  as  a  whirlwind.  .  For  the  comparison  cf.  (though  the 
Heb.  word  is  different)  Is.  v.  28  (of  the  Assyrians),  Jer.  iv.  13 
(of  the  Scythians). 

to  scatter  me.  Like  chaff:  Is.  xli.  16;  Jer.  xiii.  24,  xviii.  17. 
The  first  person  refers  to  the  people,  in  whose  name  the  words 
are  spoken  :  cf.  on  v.  2. 

Their  rejoicing,  &c.  The  foe  are  compared  to  robbers,  who 
exult  as  soon  as  they  have  the  defenceless  wayfarer  in  their  grasp, 
and  feel  that  they  can  plunder  or  murder  him  at  their  pleasure  in 
some  unfrequented  corner  (cf.  the  description  in  Ps.  x.  8,  9). 

to  devour.  Like  a  wild  beast  (Ps.  xvii.  12)  :  cf.  Prov.  xxx.  14  ; 
or,  in  so  far  as  the  nation  is  referred  to,  Jer.  x.  25,  xxx.  16,  1.  7 ; 
Ps.  xiv.  4  (the  Heb.  in  all  is  lit.  eat,  as  here). 

the  poor:   i.e.,   here,  the  suffering  and  afflicted  people  of 


HABAKKUK  3.  15,  16.     A  95 

Thou  ''^  didst  tread  the  sea  with  thine  horses,  15 

The  ^  heap  of  mighty  waters. 

I  heard,  and  my  belly  trembled,  16 

*  Or,  hast  trodden  ^  Or,  surge 

God.  ^Ant  is  properly  humbled  or  afflicted;  thus  it  comes  to 
denote  the  'poor'  (Ex.  xxii.  25  al.),  describing  him,  not  as 
a  person  in  want,  but  as  a  person  hutnbled  or  afflicted,  especially 
by  oppression,  deprivation  of  rights,  or  other  misfortune  ;  then 
lastly  the  word  acquired  a  moral  and  religious  connotation,  and  came 
to  denote  the  godly  poor,  the  men  who,  while  in  various  ways 
humbled  and  afflicted,  were  at  the  same  time  the  godly  servants 
of  Yahweh:  so,  for  instance.  Is.  xiv.  32,  xxvi.  6,  and  often  in  the 
Psalms,  as  Ps.  x.  2,  9,  xii.  5.  See  further  the  writer's  article 
'  Poor'  in  DB. ;  and  cf.  on  Zeph.  iii.  12. 

secretly :  more  exactly,  in  a  secret  place.  So  Ps.  x.  8  (RV. 
in  the  covert  places),  9  (RV.  in  the  covert),  xvii.  12  (RV.  in  secret 
places),  Ixiv.  4  (RV.  id.),  Lam.  iii.  10  (RV.  id.). 

15.  Generally  taken  as  a  figurative  description  of  the  final  ruin 
of  the  foe,  the  imagery  being  suggested  by  the  passage  of  the  Red 
Sea,  when  Yahweh,  passing  with  Israel  through  the  sea,  over- 
threw the  hosts  of  Pharaoh  in  the  waters.  The  verse,  however, 
says  nothing  about  the  destruction  of  any  foe  ;  the  change  of 
figure  from  v.  14*  is  violent ;  and  there  is  probability  in  the  sug- 
gestion that  the  verse  has  become  displaced,  and  that  it  originally 
followed  V.  7  :  standing  there,  it  would  describe  how  the  storm  of 
vv.  3-6  proceeded  to  agitate  the  waters  of  the  sea,  and  it  would 
give  point  to  the  question  in  v.  8,  '  Was  Yahweh's  wrath  against 
the  sea  ? ' 

The  surge  (RVm.)  of  miglity  waters.  The  reading  of  Codd. 
33,  62,  86,  147  of  LXX  {Irapaxdr)),  adopted  by  Wellh.,  Now., 
the  mighty  waters  surged  or  (PBV.  of  Ps.  xlvi.  3)  swelled  (iipn 
for  -inn)  has  much  to  recommend  it ;  the  words  will  then  describe 
the  effect  of  Yahweh's  '  treading '  the  sea  with  His  '  horses '  (fig. 
for  the  storm-clouds,  as  v.  8) :  the  waters  foamed  and  swelled  ^ 

16-19.  Conclusion.  The  poet  closes  by  reverting  to  the  thought 
of  V.  2,  '  and  was  afraid,'  and  describing  the  impression  which 
the  theophany  made  upon  him  :  on  the  one  hand,  it  filled  him  with 
agitation  and  alarm ;  on  the  other,  it  evoked  within  him  a  joyous 


1  For  heap  (RV.)  see  Ex.  viii.  14  [Heb.  10].  The  word  is  ex- 
ternally the  same  as  that  for  surge,  but  it  is  really  different,  the 
initial  guttural,  as  Arabic  shows,  being  not  the  same. 


96  HABAKKUK  3.  16.     A 

My  lips  quivered  at  the  voice ; 

Rottenness  entered  into  my  bones,  and  I  trembled  in 

my  place : 
That  I  should  rest  ^  in  the  day  of  trouble, 
^When  it  cometh   up   against   the   people  ^  which 

invadeth  him  in  troops. 

*  Or,  waiting/o/' 

^  Or,  IVhen  he  that  shall  invade  them  in  troops  cometh  up  against 
the  people 

*=  Or,  to  invade  them 

confidence  that,  whatever  happened,  Yahweh  would  prove  Himself 
His  people's  salvation. 

16.  I  lieard.     Viz.,  in  spirit,  the  storm  described  in  w.  3-15. 

belly :  i.  e.  the  inward  parts  generally. 

quivered.  The  word  used  elsewhere  of  the  ears  'tingling' 
(i  S.  iii.  II ;  2  K.  xxi.  12 ;  Jer.  xix.  3) ;  here  of  the  lips  striking 
together  in  fear. 

voice :  rather,  sound,  viz.  of  the  roaring  storm. 

Sottenness  entered  into  my  bones :  i.  e.  the  bones,  the 
framework  of  the  poet's  body,  seemed  to  give  way  through  ifear  ; 
his  strength  utterly  failed  him.  For  the  fig.  cf.  Prov.  xii.  4, 
xiv.  30 ;  cf.  also  the  hyperbolical  poetical  descriptions  of  the 
effects  of  pain  or  suffering  on  the  'bones'  in  Ps.  vi.  2,  xxii.  14, 
xxxi.  10,  xlii.  10 ;  Is.  xxxviii.  13  ;  Lam.  i.  13,  iii.  4. 

in  my  place :  or,  where  I  stood  (lit.  underneath  myself— an 
idiomatic  usage,  2  S.  ii.  23,  vii.  10;  Is.  xxv.  10  a/.). 

That  I  should  rest,  &c.  This  and  the  next  line  are  most 
obscure  and  uncertain,  the  Heb.  being  in  parts  ambiguous,  and 
the  text  open  to  suspicion.  Assuming  the  text  to  be  substantially 
correct,  the  best  rendering  is  that  of  RV.,  with  margin  a,  and 
with  the  one  change  (in  punctuation  only)  of  *  us '  for  '  him  ' :  that 
I  should  rest  (waiting  calmly)  for  the  day  of  trouble  (the  day  of 
judgement  described  in  vv.  3-15,  which,  though  it  may  end  In 
Israel's  deliverance,  is  nevertheless  fraught  with  terror  for  those 
who  witness  it),  when  it  cometh  up  against  die  people  (i.  e.  if  Habakkuk 
be  the  author,  the  Chaldaeans)  who  troop  (Gen.  xlix,  19  *Gad,  a  troop 
shall  troop  upon  him')  upon  us^  (so  substantially  Nowack)^. 

^  LXX  upon  me  (^:il3-  for  MTW)  in  the  same  sense,  the  sing,  pro- 
noun referring  to  the  people  :  see  vv.  14,  19. 

*  Other  renderings  that  have  been  proposed  are — (i)  That  I 
must  voait  calmly  for  the  day  of  trouble,  for  the  coming  up  against 
the  people  (Israel)  of  him  who  will  troop  upon  it  (Del.,  Keil,  Kirkp. : 


HABAKKUK  3.  17.     A  97 

For  though  the  fig  tree  shall  not  blossom,  1 7 

Neither  shall  fruit  be  in  the  vines ; 

The  labour  of  the  olive  shall  fail, 

And  the  fields  shall  yield  no  meat ; 

The  flock  shall  be  cut  off  from  the  fold. 

And  there  shall  be  no  herd  in  the  stalls : 

17.  The  tenses  of  the  Heb.  must  here  describe  a  series  oi  facts, 
whether  present  actually,  or  pictured  in  imagination  or  vision  as 
present ;  hence  the  '  though '  (which  is  not  in  the  Heb.)  must  be 
understood,  not  as  introducing  a  merely  hypothetical  case  (as  e.  g. 
in  Am.  ix.  2,  3),  but  as  simply  bringing  out,  for  English  ears,  the 
antithesis  to  v.  18  (cf.  Job  viii.  7).  The  connexion  with  what 
precedes  is,  however,  difficult.  V.  16  describes  the  prophet's  alarm 
at  the  manifestation  of  Yahweh  for  the  overthrow  of  His  people's 
foes :  but  how  can  the  failure  of  the  fig  and  other  crops  give  a 
reason  ('For')  for  this?  V.  17  is  commonly  understood  as  a 
prophetical  picture  of  the  land  of  Judah  desolated  by  the  invaders 
{v.  16) ;  but,  as  Now.  and  Dav.  have  remarked,  the  terms  of  the 
verse  suggest  more  obviously  a  failure  of  crops  due  to  natural 
causes.  It  must  be  allowed  that  Wellhausen  may  have  seen  rightly 
when  he  says  that  vv.  17-19  are  not  the  genuine  close  of  the 
poem  :  even  Davidson  observes,  '  It  is  possible  that  the  poem  ended 
originally  with  v.  16,  and  that  vv.  17-19  are  an  addition.' 

so  RV.  margins  a  and  b) -,  and  (2)  That  I  must  -wait  calmly 
for  the  day  of  trouble,  for  its  coming  up  against  the  people  (Israel) 
to  troop  upon  it  (Evvald  :  so  RV.  margins  a  and  c).  But  the  con- 
text seems  decidedly  to  require  that  the  *  day  of  trouble '  should 
come  up  not  against  Israel,  but  against  Israel's /<?£> :  (i)  implies  also 
a  forced  construction  of  the  Heb.  MTiV ;  and  the  figure  *  troop  upon  ' 
in  (2)  is  a  strange  and  improbable  one  to  apply  to  a  ^  day  *  ('  invade  * 
is  a  paraphrase  which  conceals  the  difficulty).  It  is  some  objection 
to  all  these  renderings  that  to  rest  nowhere  else  means  to  wait  calmly. 
Marti  reads  (with  Wellh.)  nw  [ormn:  seePs.  xxxvii.  31]  M:r  "nnni 
for  "ir«  ^3iM  'nnnt,  and  in  the  last  clause  nr  for  orS  :  we  then  get 
(after  '  bones '),  and  my  steps  tremble  -where  I  stand  ;  (but)  /  shall 
rest  in  the  day  of  trouble,  vahen  the  people  that  troopeth  upon  me 
Cometh  up ;  i.  e.  the  poet,  speaking  in  Israel's  name,  trembles  at  the 
prospect  of  Yahweh's  appearing  {vv.  4-15),  but  is  nevertheless  con- 
fident that  he  will  have  peace  in  the  day  of  trouble,  viz.  through 
Yahweh's  striking  down  his  nation's  assailants.  This  yields  a  good 
sense,  and  may  be  right :  the  case  is  one  in  which  it  is  impossible  to 
speak  with  confidence. 

H 


98  HABAKKUK  3.  18,  19.     A 

18  Yet  I  will  rejoice  in  the  Lord, 

I  will  joy  in  the  God  of  my  salvation. 

19  Jehovah,  the  Lord,  is  my  strength, 
And  he  maketh  my  feet  Hke  hinds' y^/, 


For  the  fig  tree  doth  not  bud  (LXX  bear), 

And  there  is  no  increase  in  the  vines  ; 

The  produce  of  the  olive  hath  failed^ 

And  the  fields  yield  no  food  ; 

The  flock  is  cut  off  from  the  fold, 

And  there  is  no  herd  in  the  stalls. 
This  is  how  the  verse  ought  to  read.  For  increase,  see 
Lev.  xxvi.  4 ;  Ps.  Ixvii.  6 ;  Zech.  viii.  12  :  iov  fail  {lit.  '  he,'  i  K. 
xiii.  18),  Hos.  ix.  2.  Meat  in  RV.  does  not  xtiCdiU  flesh  :  the  word 
has  its  old,  but  now  obsolete,  sense  of  food  in  general,  noticed  on 
i.  17. 

18.  But  I  (emph.).  Introducing  an  antithesis,  as  often  in  the 
Psalms  (e.  g.  Pss.  v.  7,  xiii.  5,  xxxi.  14).  The  speaker  is  the  nation 
(or  the  prophet  representing  the  nation) :  '  in  spite  of  calamities 
\v.  17)  the  nation  will  joy  in  God  ;  though  earthly  blessings  perish. 
He  remains  their  portion.  The  joy  is  partly  a  present  one  in  the 
possession  of  God,  as  Ps.  Ixxiii.  23 ;  and  partly  one  of  hope  in  His 
future  salvation '  (Dav.). 

the  God  of  my  salvation.  Or,  deliverance  {v.  8).  The 
title  is  a  frequent  one ;  e.g.  Is.  xvii.  10  ;  Ps.  xviii.  46,  xxiv.  5,  xxv. 
5,  xxvii.  9. 

19.  The  nation  still  speaks,  expressing  its  confidence  in 
Yahweh,  as  the  source  of  its  strength,  who  gives  it  the  means 
of  overcoming  all  its  enemies,  and  plants  it  securely  in  its  own 
land.     The  verse  is  full  of  reminiscences  of  Ps.  xviii.  32,  33. 

my  miffht.  Cf.  Ps.  xviii.  32  *  the  God  who  girdeth  me  with 
might.'  Not  the  word  generally  used  when  God  is  called  *  my 
strength '  (Ex.  xv.  2  al). 

And  he  maketh,  &c.  Varied  (in  the  Heb.  word  for  maketh) 
from  Ps.  xviii.  33".  The  allusion  is  to  the  swiftness  and  sureness 
of  foot  which  are  characteristic  of  the  hind,  and  which  make  it 
an  apt  type  of  the  brave  and  successful  warrior  (Ps.  xviii.  33  ;  see 
2  S.  i.  23,  I  Ch.  xii.  8).  At  the  same  time  the  comparison 
suggests  '■  the  freshness  of  life,  the  power  and  confidence  in  action, 
which  are  felt  to  be  drawn  from  God '  (Dav.). 

And  he  maketh  me  to  tread,  &c.  Varied  from  Ps.  xviii.  33'' 
(*  maketh  me  to  stand').  RV.  retains  walk  from  AV. ;  but  tread 
is  (like  the  Heb.)  a  more  uncommon  and  choicer  word,  besides 
being  the  one  used  in  the  same  phrase  (in  both  AV.  and  RV.)  in 
Dt.  xxxiii.  29,  and  (of  Yahweh)  in  Am.  iv.   13;   Mic.  i.  3;   Job 


HABAKKUK  3.  19.     A  99 

And    will    make    me    to    walk  upon    mine  high 
places. 

For  the  Chief  Musician,  on  my  stringed  instruments. 

ix.  8.  To  '  tread  upon  the  high  places 'of  a  land  is  a  phrase  implying 
triumphal  possession  of  it  (cf.  Dt.  xxxiii.  29,  and,  with  '  maketh 
to  ride,'  Dt.  xxxii.  13,  Is.  Iviii.  14) — here,  with  *my,'  of  the 
mountain-ranges  of  Judah,  on  which  Yahweh  enables  His  people 
to  step  securely  by  giving  them  victory  over  their  foes.  The 
words  express  the  final  triumph  of  the  people  of  God  over  the 
powers  opposed  to  it. 

Per  the  Chief  Musician,  &c.  The  subscription  to  the  ode, 
indicating  that  it  was  taken  from  some  collection  of  Psalms  sung 
in  the  Temple  services.  The  expression  '  Chief  Musician  '  occurs 
otherwise  only  in  the  titles  to  fifty-four  Psalms — Ps.  iv,  &c.  It  is  in 
the  Heb.  the  participle  of  a  verb  found  only  in  late  Hebrew  (Chr., 
Ezr.),  and  signifying  to  oversee  or  superintend  a  work,  i  Ch.  xxiii.  4 ; 
2  Ch.  ii.  2,  18,  xxxiv.  12, 13 ;  Ezr.  iii.  8,  g;  in  music,  to  lead,  viz.  with 
harps,  I  Ch.  xv.  21.  To  judge  from  i  Ch.  xv.  21,  the  wenazseak  was, 
in  modern  phraseology,  the  leader  of  the  band,  who  may  very 
likely  have  had  under  his  charge  other  matters  connected  with 
the  musical  services  of  the  Temple  (e.  g.  he  may  have  been  the 
director  of  the  music  generally).  '  For  the  leader  of  the  band  ' 
will  mean,  presumably,  either  to  be  arranged  by  him  for  music, 
or  to  be  performed  under  his  direction,  perhaps  both. 

on  my  striug-ed  instmments.  If  the  pronoun  is  correct,  it 
can  only  refer  to  the  worshipping  congregation.  That,  however, 
is  not  natural  in  a  subscription  forming  no  part  of  the  original 
ode.  More  probably  the  pronoun  (which  is  only  a  single  letter  in 
the  Hebrew)  should  be  deleted  :  the  entire  note  will  then  be 
exactly  the  same  as  that  found  in  the  titles  of  Pss.  iv,  vi,  liv,  Iv, 
Ixi,  Ixvii,  Ixxvi. 


Additional  Note  on  Hab.  iii. 

Storms  of  great  violence,  such  as  the  one  imagined  by 
Habakkuk,  visit  the  Sinaitic  Peninsula  every  year,  and  produce  the 
floods,  or  seils  (i.  e.  *  torrents'),  so  much  dreaded  by  the  Bedawin, 
The  Rev.  F.  W.  Holland  gives  a  graphic  description  ^  of  one  which 
he  witnessed  on  December  3  1867,  when  encamped  some  way 
up  the  Wady  Feiran  (which  runs  up  from  the  west  to  Jebel  Musa), 

*  The  Ordnance  Survey  of  the  Peninsula  of  Sinai  (1869), 
pp.  226  f.,  244. 

H   2 


100  HABAKKUK  3 

almost  opposite  to  the  mouth  of  Wady  'Aleyat.  The  following  is 
an  abridgement  of  his  description.  'At  4.30  p.m.  a  few  heavy 
drops  of  rain  began  to  fall ;  and  at  5  a  tremendous  thunderstorm 
began.  The  rain  fell  in  torrents,  and  the  roar  of  the  thunder 
echoing  from  peak  to  peak,  and  the  howling  of  the  wind,  were 
quite  deafening.  It  soon  grew  dark,  but  the  flashes  of  lightning 
were  so  incessant  that  we  could  see  everything  around  us 
[cf.  Hab.  iii.  3,  4,  ii].  In  less  than  a  quarter  of  an  hour  every 
ravine  and  gully  in  the  mountains  was  pouring  down  a  foaming 
stream  ;  and  soon  afterwards  a  tremendous  torrent  burst  down 
a  little  wady  just  below  our  tent,  carrying  with  it  a  mass  of  debris 
into  Wady  Feiran  [cf,  Nah.  i.  5  ;  Jud.  v.  4*',  5].  The  bed  of 
Wady  Feiran  was  as  yet  dry ;  but  soon  a  white  line  of  foam 
appeared  in  the  watercourse,  and  quickly  grew  in  size.'  Wave 
after  wave  came  rolling  down;  the  torrent  rose  higher  and 
higher ;  a  few  minutes  after  6,  when  it  had  ceased  raining,  a 
great  wave  suddenly  demolished  the  wall  near  which  Mr.  Holland 
and  his  party  had  taken  refuge,  and  forced  them  to  retreat  for 
their  lives  further  up  the  mountain-side.  The  storm  was  now 
over,  and  the  moon  soon  began  to  shine  out  brightly.  '  It  was 
a  grand  but  awful  sight.  It  seemed  almost  impossible  to  believe 
that  scarcely  more  than  an  hour's  rain  could  turn  a  dry  desert 
wady  upwards  of  300  yards  broad  into  a  foaming  torrent  from 
8  to  10  feet  deep  [cf.  Hab.  iii.  g*',  10].  Yet  there  it  was,  roaring 
and  tearing  down,  and  carrying  with  it  tangled  masses  of  tamar- 
isks, and  hundreds  of  palm-trees.  A  few  miles  above  where 
I  stood  a  whole  Arab  encampment  was  swept  away  from  the 
mouth  of  Wady  Umm  Takhah,  and  thirty  persons  perished,  besides 
scores  of  sheep  and  other  animals.  The  roar  of  the  torrent  was 
tremendous ;  the  boulders  ground  along  beneath  the  water  with 
the  noise  as  of  a  hundred  mills  at  work,  and  every  now  and  then 
the  ground  on  which  I  stood  shook  again  as  some  huge  rock 
charged  down  against  it  from  Wady  'Aleyat  [cf.  Nah.  i.  5,  6^]. 
At  9.30  the  flood  was  rapidly  subsiding  ;  and  by  the  next  morning 
a  gently  flowing  stream,  but  a  few  yards  broad  and  a  few  inches 
deep,  was  all  that  remained  of  it.  But  the  whole  bed  of  Wady 
Feiran  had  been  changed  :  huge  banks  of  sand  and  stones  had 
taken  the  place  of  hollows,  and  large  groves  of  tamarisks  and 
palm-trees  had  become  barren  wastes  of  sand.'  This  seil,  Captain 
(afterwards  Sir  Charles)  Wilson  discovered  subsequently,  had 
swept  away  so  much  of  the  soil  of  the  Wady  Feiran  as  to  lower 
its  bed  by  8  feet.  From  the  suddenness  with  which  such  storms 
arise,  and  produce  a  seil,  the  Bedawin  of  the  Peninsula  will  never 
encamp  in  the  bed  of  a  wady,  or  in  spots  where  precipitous 
mountain-sides  would  prevent  a  hasty  retreat  in  case  of  need. 


ZEPHANIAH 


INTRODUCTION 

AND 

REVISED   VERSION  WITH   ANNOTATIONS 


Explanation  of  Symbols. 


Zephaniah. 
Later  addition. 


ZEPHANIAH 

INTRODUCTION 

§  I.    The  person  and  date  of  Zephaniah. 

Zephaniah  ^  is  earlier  in  date  than  Habakkuk,  and  in 
all  probability  earlier  also  than  Nahum.  For  he  mentions 
various  forms  of  idolatry  as  still  openly  practised  in  Judah 
(i.  4,  5),  which  were  publicly  put  down  by  Josiah  in  the 
reformation  which  followed  the  discovery  of  Deuteronomy 
in  the  Temple  in  his  i8th  year,  B.C.  621  (2  K.  xxiii. 
4,  5, 12) ;  and  the  general  picture  of  the  moral  and  religious 
condition  of  the  people,  as  implied  in  i.  8,  9,  12,  iii.  1-4, 7, 
points  also  to  the  same  period  :  the  reformation  is  still  in 
the  future.  Of  the  prophet  himself  nothing  is  known 
beyond  what  is  stated  in  the  title  (i.  l) ;  but  inasmuch  as 
his  genealogy,  contraiy  to  the  usual  practice  (see  e.g. 
Is.  i.  I  ;  Hos.  i.  i ;  Ez.  i.  3),  is  carried  back  to  the  fourth 
generation,  it  has  been  inferred  that  his  great-great- 
grandfather, Hezekiah,  must  have  been  a  man  of  some 
note,  and  in  fact  that  he  was  the  king  of  that  name ;  so 
that,  if  this  inference  be  correct,  Zephaniah  will  have 
been  related  to  the  royal  family  of  Judah. 

A  passage  from  an  apocryphal  prophecy,  ascribed  to 
Zephaniah  2,  is  quoted  by  Clement  of  Alexandria  {Strom,  v. 
II,  §  77) :  '  And  the  spirit  took  me,  and  carried  me  up  into  the 
fifth  heaven,  and  I  saw  angels  called  lords,  and  their  diadem 
placed  upon  them  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  the  throne  of  each 
of  them  was  seven  times  (brighter)  than  the  light  of  the  rising 
sun,  dwelling  in  temples  of  salvation,  and  hymning  the  un- 
speakable God  Most  High.'  Some  other  fragments,  preserved 
in  a  Coptic  version,  have  also  been  discovered  and  pubhshed 
lately  :  see  Schurer,  Gesch.  d.  Volk.  Isr.,  ed,  3,  iii.  271  f. 

'  The  name  means  '  (he  whom)  Yahweh  hath  hidden ' 
(Ps.  xxvii.  5,  xxxi.  20,  Ixxxiii.  3). 

2  Cf.  the  apocryphal  prophecy  ascribed  to  Habakkuk  (p.  50), 
the  '  Ascension  of  Isaiah,'  &c. 


104  ZEPHANIAH 


§  2.    The  contents  and  characteristics  of 

THE  PROPHECY  OF  ZEPHANIAH. 

The  prophecy  of  Zephaniah  may  be  divided  conveniently 
into  three  parts — the  menace  (ch.  i),  the  admonition  (ii.  i — 
iii.  7),  and  Wx^ promise  (iii.  8-20). 

I.  Chap.  i.  Here  Zephaniah  proclaims  the  approach 
of  a  universal  judgement,  which,  embracing  {vv.  2,  3) 
the  world  at  large,  will  alight  in  particular  upon  Judah 
and  Jerusalem,  and  carry  off  thence  all  idolaters  and 
apostates  {vv.  4-6).  Let  the  earth  be  silent !  for  a  '  day 
of  Yahweh '  is  at  hand,  a  day  of  sacrifice,  in  which  the 
victims  are  the  Jewish  people,  and  those  invited  to  partake 
in  the  sacrificial  meal  are  the  heathen  nations, '  sanctified ' 
for  the  occasion.  Three  classes  are  mentioned  particularly 
as  those  whom  the  judgement  will  sweep  away— viz.  court 
officials,  who  either  aped  foreign  fashions  or  were 
foreigners  themselves,  and  who  were  addicted  to  cor- 
ruption and  intrigue ;  the  Phoenician  merchants  in 
Jerusalem ;  and  Jews  sunk  in  unbelief  and  religious 
indifferentism  {yv,  8-13).  In  vv.  14-18  the  prophet 
develops  the  figure  of  the  '  day  of  Yahweh,'  describing 
the  terrors  by  which  it  will  be  accompanied,  and  the 
onset  of  the  fierce,  inexorable  foe,  who  will  be  the  instru- 
ment for  carrying  out  Yahweh's  purposes. 

II.  Zephaniah  now  urges  his  people  to  repent,  if 
perchance  they  may  escape,  in  the  day  when  the  storm 
bursts  (ii.  1-3).  The  Philistines,  and  Moab  and  Ammon, 
Judah's  neighbours  on  the  W.  and  E.  (vv.  4-1 1),  as  also 
the  more  distant  Ethiopia,  and  Nineveh  {yv.  12-15), 
representing  the  great  empire  of  Assyria,  will  all  be 
overwhelmed  by  the  judgement.  From  Nineveh  the 
prophet  turns  to  address  Jerusalem :  he  reproaches  her 
rulers  and  leading  men  with  avarice,  worldliness,  and  dis- 
honesty ;  and  blames  her  for  her  refusal  to  take  warning 
from  the  fate  which  had  overtaken  other  nations  (iii.  1-7). 


INTRODUCTION  105 

III.  Let  the  faithful  in  Jerusalem,  then,  wait  patiently, 
until  the  approaching  judgement  is  completed  (iii.  8),  and 
the  'remnant  of  Israel,'  purified  of  all  its  proud  and 
worldly  members,  will  in  faith  and  humility  cleave  sincerely 
to  its  God,  and  dwell  in  safety  upon  their  own  land  (iii. 
11-14). 

Vv.  9,  10  interrupt  the  connexion,  and  are  perhaps  the 
insertion  of  some  later  prophet  :  they  are  an  anticipation, — 
like  Is.  ii.  2-4,  xviii.  7,  xix.  23-25,  Jer.  xiii.  19,  for  instance, — 
of  the  golden  age  in  which  the  nations  of  the  world  will 
unite  harmoniously  in  the  service  of  Yahweh. 

In  conclusion  the  prophet,  in  jubilant  tones,  bids  the 
purified  nation  exult  in  the  God  who  now  dwells,  as 
a  powerful  and  loving  protector,  in  their  midst  (vv.  14-17), 
and  who  will  bring  back  those  still  in  exile,  and  give  His 
restored  people  '  a  name  and  a  renown '  among  all  the 
nations  of  the  earth  {vv.  18-20). 

Marti  has  drawn  out  well  the  historical  importance  of 
Zephaniah's  book.  It  is,  he  points  out,  an  invaluable  docu- 
ment, springing  out  of  the  years  immediately  preceding 
Josiah's  reformation  ;  for  we  hear  in  it  a  voice  testifying 
to  the  religious  and  social  condition  of  Jerusalem  at  the 
time,  and  evidently  proceeding  from  the  same  prophetic 
circle  in  which  the  Deuteronomic  law  originated.  We 
realize  from  it  the  opposition  which  then  arose  against  the 
intrusion  into  Judah  of  foreign  influences  and  foreign 
customs,  which  were  undermining  the  national  religion, 
and  destroying  the  simplicity  of  life  and  manners  which 
had  been  inherited  from  the  past.  Zephaniah  is  a  true 
successor  of  Amos,  Hosea,  and  Isaiah,  who  saw  in  the 
ascetic  Nazirites  genuine  Israelites  (Am.  ii.  11),  repudiated 
foreign  rites  as  Baal-worship  in  disguise,  and  combated 
energetically  the  evils  which  the  increasing  luxury  brought 
in  its  train,  the  oppression  of  the  poor,  injustice  in  trade 
(Am.  viii.  5),  and  a  supercilious  disregard  of  Yahweh's 
moral  demands.  Zephaniah  gives  us  a  glimpse  of  the 
religious  syncretism,  which  Manasseh  had  favoured  and 


io6  ZEPHANIAH 

promoted ;  and  makes  us  realize  how  the  cults  of  neigh- 
bouring peoples,  and  especially  of  the  Assyrians,  had 
penetrated  into  Judah  (Zeph.  i.  4f.,  8  f.). 

In  his  prophetic  ideals  Zephaniah  follows  largely  in 
the  footsteps  of  Isaiah.  With  Zephaniah,  as  with  Isaiah, 
the  central  idea  is  that  oi  dL  judgement ^  to  be  executed  by 
Yahweh  upon  Judah,  which  will  sweep  away  from  it  the 
idolaters,  the  men  of  violence  and  wrong,  judges  and 
others  in  high  position  who  forget  their  responsibilities, 
false  prophets  and  profane  priests,  the  hardened  men  of 
the  world  who  have  no  religion  at  all  ('  the  men  that  are 
thickened  upon  their  lees,'  i.  12),  and  who  think  that 
Yahweh  can  do  *  neither  good  nor  evil,'  and  the  impeni- 
tent who  will  not  listen  to  '  correction '  (i.  4-6,  8  f.,  12,  iii. 
2,  3  f.,  11) ;  but  which  will  leave  behind  a  meek  and  pious 
*  remnant,'  who  trust  simply  in  their  God,  and  do  their 
duty  in  every  way  to  their  neighbours  (ii.  3,  iii.  12,  13), 
who  have  no  longer  anything  to  fear  from  their  ancient 
enemies  (ii.  4-15),  but  live  a  life  of  peace  and  felicity 
under  Yahweh's  immediate  kingship  (ii.  7,  iii.  14-17). 
This  is,  in  general,  the  doctrine  of  Isaiah  (i.  25-27,  iv.  3-6, 
xxviii.  5  f.,  XXX.  19-26,  27-33,  xxxi.  8  f.,  xxxii.  16-19 ;  cf. 
on  Zeph.  iii.  11);  though  Zephaniah  emphasizes  more 
strongly  than  Isaiah  does  the  particular  virtue  of  'humility.' 
But  with  Zephaniah  the  judgement,  more  distinctly  than 
in  Isaiah  (iii.  13),  is  a  w^r/^-judgement ;  it  embraces  all 
nations  (i.  2  f.,  iii.  8),  not  Israel  only  (i.  4  ff.).  The  figure 
of  Yahweh's  '  Day '  he  doubtless  owes  to  Is.  ii.  12  flf. ;  but 
^the  imagery  of  war  and  invasion,  under  which  its  approach 
^vs  pictured  (i.  14-18),  is  Zephaniah's  own,  and  was  no 
doubt  suggested  to  him  by  the  recent  irruption  of  hordes 
of  Scythians  into  Asia  (cf.  p.  119),  who  seem  also  to  be 
referred  to  in  some  of  Jeremiah's  prophecies  dating  from 
the  same  time  (as  Jer.  v.  15-17,  vi.  1-6,  22-25). 

The  great  and  abiding  religious  value  of  the  book 
consists  in  the  profoundly  earnest  moral  tone  which 
pervades  it,  and  in  the  prophet's  deep  sense  of  the  sin  of 


INTRODUCTION  107 

his  people  and  of  the  stern  need  which  impels  Yahweh, 
who  would  only  too  gladly  rejoice  over  His  people,  if  it 
would  permit  Him  to  do  so  (iii.  17),  to  visit  it  with 
a  discipline  which  will  purge  away  its  unworthy  members. 
Zephaniah's  gospel  has  been  described  as  *  simple  and 
austere.'  It  is  true,  he  goes  back  to  and  insists  with 
pathetic  eloquence  upon  the  most  primary  and  elementary 
of  religious  duties,  earnestness  and  sincerity  of  life,  justice 
and  integrity,  humility,  and  a  simple  trust  in  God.  *A 
thorough  purgation,  the  removal  of  the  wicked,  the 
sparing  of  the  honest  and  the  meek  ;  insistence  only  upon 
the  rudiments  of  morality  and  religion;  faith  in  its 
simplest  form  of  trust  in  a  righteous  God,  and  character 
in  its  basal  elements  of  meekness  and  truth — these  alone 
survive  the  judgement '  (G.  A.  Smith,  p.  7 1).  He  does  not, 
as  other  prophets  commonly  do,  call  the  wicked  to  repent, 
or  dwell  upon  the  divine  grace  which  is  ever  ready  to 
forgive  the  penitent :  it  may  be  that  the  doom  seemed  to 
him  to  be  too  imminent ;  the  time  for  pleading  was  past ; 
there  remained  only  the  separation  of  the  evil  from  the 
good.  But  he  recognizes  and  teaches  clearly  the  moral 
qualities  which  have  a  value  in  Yahweh's  eyes,  and  which 
will  not  be  swept  away  when  the  judgement  comes  (cf.  Is. 
xxxiii.  14-16). 

As  happens,  however,  sometimes  with  the  prophets, 
Zephaniah  hardly  presents  a  logical  and  consistent  picture 
of  the  future.  He  does  not  explain  what  is  to  become  of 
the  nations  alluded  to  in  i.  13-18,  after  they  have  per- 
formed their  work  of  judgement  upon  Israel.  As  Robertson 
Smith  has  pointed  out  {EB.  iv.  5403-4),  he  seems  to  have 
borrowed  the  idea  of  a  chastising  nation  from  Isaiah,  but 
to  have  developed  it  without  that  definite  relation  to 
present  political  facts  which  Isaiah's  construction  has: 
the  foreign  conqueror  by  whom  Judah  is  to  be  chastised, 
and  Nineveh  and  Ethiopia  destroyed,  is  *  brought  on  the 
stage,  but  never,'  like  Isaiah's  Assyrians,  *  taken  off  it. 
It  is  safe  to  conclude  that  the   principal   actor  in  the 


io8  ZEPHANIAH 

prophetic  drama,'— suggested,  as  Rob.  Smith  also  thought, 
by  the  Scythians, — '  was  not  as  real  and  prominent 
a  figure  in  Zephaniah's  political  horizon  as  Assyria  was 
in  the  horizon  of  Isaiah.'  And  how  in  other  respects 
is  the  future  to  be  constituted?  Is  the  purified  Israel  to 
be  the  sole  nation  left  upon  the  earth?  Even  if  ii.  ii, 
iii.  lo-ii  be  Zephaniah's,  the  relation  between  the  nations 
who  are  converted  and  saved,  and  those  who  are  de- 
stroyed (ch.  ii,  iii.  8),  is  not  clearly  defined.  The  fact  is, 
the  prophets  project  great  ideals  upon  the  future :  while 
each  picture,  taken  by  itself,  is  the  expression  of  a  truth, 
they  are  not  always  careful  to  harmonize  their  ideals  in 
details. 

§  3.  Critical  questions  connected  with 
THE  Book  of  Zephaniah. 
'The  genuineness  and  integrity  of  the  short  Book  of 
Zephaniah,'  Robertson  Smith  wrote  in  1888  ^,  'do  not  seem 
to  be  open  to  reasonable  doubt ' ;  and  he  adds  (in  answer 
to  Stade,  who  even  then,  on  account  of  the  ideas  expressed 
in  them,  had  questioned  ii.  1-3,  11,  iii)  that  'though  the 
sequence  of  thought  is  not  as  smooth  as  a  Western  reader 
may  desire,  a  single  leading  motive  runs  through  the 
whole,  and  the  first  two  chapters  would  be  incomplete 
without  the  third.'  But  times  have  changed  since  1888 ; 
and  now  considerable  parts  of  the  book  are  regarded  by 
most  critics  as  later  additions  to  the  original  prophecy  of 
Zephaniah.  Thus  Kuenen  in  1889,  while  defending  ii.  1-3, 
II  against  Stade,  allowed  that  iii.  14-20— on  account, 
chiefly,  of  the  great  contrast  between  it  and  the  denun- 
ciations of  i.  2— ii.  I,  iii.  1-7— was  a  supplement,  dating 
probably  from  shortly  after  the  restoration  in  B.  C.  536. 
Wellhausen  (1892,  1898)  is  suspicious  of  ii.  3,  and  rejects 
ii.  7*'°,  8-1 1  ;  he  treats  ch.  iii  as  an  appeiiJIx,  added 
subsequently  in  two  stages,  first  iii.  1-7  (cf.  Mic.  vii.  1-6), 
and  then   iii.  8-20  (cf.  Mic.  vii.  7-20) — iii.  8-20  being 

^  Encyd.  Brit,  s.v.  (reprinted  in  the  Encycl,  Biblica). 


INTRODUCTION  109 

separated  from  iii.  1-7  on  account  of  the  sudden  change 
of  tone  and  subject.  Davidson  (1896)  defends  ch.  ii  as 
a  whole,  admitting  only  (p.  102)  that  ii.  4-15  may  in  parts 
have  been  expanded  :  in  ch.  iii  he  is  disposed  to  question 
7/.  II  (which  is  textually  obscure  and  uncertain),  and  vv. 
14-20  (substantially  upon  Wellhausen's  grounds).  Nowack 
(1897,  1904)  rejects  ii.  3,  7*.%  8-II,  15,  iii.  9-10,  14-20. 
G.  A.  Smith  (1898)  accepts  all  ch.  ii  except  vv.  8-1 1 ;  in 
ch.  iii  he  regards  vv.  9-10  as  'obviously  a  later  insertion,' 
and  iii.  14-20  as  clearly  a  lyrical  epilogue  of  peace  and 
hope  (pp.  44  f.),  a  *  new  song  from  God '  (p.  73),  which  came 
to  some  prophet  shortly  after  the  return,  and  expressed 
for  the  remnant  that  survived,  the  '  afflicted  and  poor ' 
people  of  V.  12,  the  brighter  hopes  which  the  restoration 
fostered.  Marti,  lastly  (1904),  retains  for  Zeph.  only 
i.  7,  2,  3^%  4,  5,  8a^-iia,  12,  13%  14-17  (except  17^7), 
ii.  I,  2*,  4,  5-7,  12-14— the  rest  of  the  book  consisting 
of  additions  reflecting  the  hopes  and  feelings  of  later 
times,  iii.  1-7  being  added  first ;  then  iii.  8,  11-15,  I7-i9j 
and  various  passages  in  chs.  i,  ii,  for  the  purpose  of 
changing  the  original  prophecy  of  Zephaniah  into  an 
eschatological  prophecy  of  the  final  judgement  upon 
allmen^;  and,  lastly,  ii.  11  and  iii.  9-10,  expressing  greater 
friendliness  of  feeling  towards  the  heathen. 

It  is  difficult  not  to  consider  the  grounds  for  so  largely 
limiting  the  genuine  text  of  Zeph.  as  sometimes  arbitrary, 
and  in  other  cases  insufficient.  Thus  the  principal 
reasons  upon  which  ii.  8-1 1  is  rejected  are  that  there  was 
no  sufficient  motive  for  the  mention  of  these  countries 
c.  625  B.  C,  and  that  the  reproaches  of  ii.  8, 10  presuppose 
the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  in  586,  which  gave  occasion 
for  them  (Ez.  xxv.  3,  6,  8)  ;  but  is  our  knowledge  of  the 
times  suflicient  to  justify  either  of  these  contentions? 
It  is  also  urged  against  ii.  8-1 1  that  these  verses  differ 

^  According  to  Marti,  the  judgement  announced  by  Zephaniah 
included,  besides  Judah,  only  the  Philistines,  Kush,  and 
Assyria. 


no  ZEPHANIAH 

metrically  from  the  context  (Nowack,  Smith,  pp.  42  f. ;  cf. 
Marti,  who,  however,  has  to  alter  vv,  5-7  to  reduce  them 
to  metre).  This  argument  would  be  weightier  if  the 
principles,  and  rules  for  the  application,  of  Hebrew 
metrical  forms  were  more  clearly  ascertained  than  they 
at  present  are ;  but  though  much  has  been  written  lately 
on  the  subject  of  Hebrew  metre,  and  though  Duhm  and 
Marti  have  thrown,— often,  it  is  true,  at  the  cost  of  very 
considerable  textual  alterations,— the  Psalms,  and  the 
whole  of  the  poetical  parts  of  Job,  Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  and 
the  Minor  Prophets,  into  metrical  forms  ^  it  may  be 
doubted  whether  the  time  is  yet  ripe  for  making  metre 
a  criterion  of  authorship.  As  regards  the  later  ideas 
alleged  to  occur  in  parts  of  Zeph.,  it  may  be  questioned 
whether  it  has  yet  been  conclusively  shown  that  they 
point  necessarily  to  an  age  later  than  that  of  Zephaniah 
himself.  And  it  is  difficult  also  to  understand  why  iii. 
14-20  should  be  deemed  inconsistent  with  ch.  i :  for 
though  Israel  is  threatened  with  judgements  in  ch.  i,  and 
is  the  recipient  of  promises  in  iii.  14-20,  yet  it  is  not  the 
same  Israel  in  the  two  cases:  and  where  is  the  incon- 
sistency in  a  prophet  announcing  judgements  upon  the 
degenerate  Israel  of  the  present,  and  promising  blessings 
to  the  purified  and  regenerate  Israel  ('  the  remnant,'  ii.  7, 
9,  iii.  12,  13)  of  the  future  ?  It  is,  however,  possible  that 
ii.  7°  and  iii.  18-20  (presupposing  restoration  from  exile', 
see  on  ii.  7),  and  ii.  11  and  iii.  9  f .  (on  account  of  their 
very  imperfect  connexion  with  the  context :  see  the  notes), 
may  be  later  additions  to  the  original  text  of  Zeph. : 
though,  as  Jeremiah,  his  younger  contemporary,  foresaw 
not  only  exile,  but  restoration  from  exile,  Zephaniah  him- 
self may  have  added  iii.  18-20  many  years  after  the  rest  of 
his  book  was  written,  at  a  time  when  exile  was  seen  more 
clearly  to  be  inevitable  than  was  the  case  in  626  or  625. 

^  Not,  however,  a  syllabic  metre,  but  a  metre  of  accents,  or 
beats. 


ZEPHANIAH 

The  word  of  the  Lord  which  came  unto  Zephaniah  1 
the   son   of  Cushi,    the   son   of  Gedahah,  the   son   of 
Amariah,  the  son  of  Hezekiah,  in  the  days  of  Josiah  the 
son  of  Amon,  king  of  Judah. 

[Z]  I  will  utterly  consume  all  things  from  off  the  face  2 
of  the  ground,  saith  the  Lord.     I  will  consume  man  and  3 
beast ;  I  will  consume  the  fowls  of  the  heaven,  and  the 
fishes   of  the   sea,  and   the   stumblingblocks  with   the 
wicked;   and  I  will  cut  off  man  from  off  the  face  of 

i.  1.  Title. 

The  word  of  Yahweh  wMch  came  unto.  The  title,  as 
Hos.  i.  I  ;  Joel  i.  i;  Mic.  i.  i  :  the  expression,  the  word  of  Yahweh 
came  (rr^n  =  kyivero  Lukeiii.  2),  is  also  common  besides,  especially 
in  Jer.,  Ezek.,  and  Zech.  i-viii. 

the  son  of  Kezekiah.     See  p.  103. 
2-18.   Description  of  the  coming  judgement.     It  falls  first,  with 
destructive    force,   upon  the  world  at  large,  and  afterwards  in 
particular  upon  Judah  and  Jerusalem. 

3.  The  '  all  things  *  of  z/.  2  particularized  :  the  judgement  will 
sweep  away  not  only  man,  the  real  offender,  but  beasts,  and  fowl, 
and  fishes  as  well :  cf.  Gen.  vii.  21,  23;  for  the  inclusion  of  fishes, 
also,  Hos.  iv.  3,  Ez.  xxxviii.  19. 

and  the  stiunblingrhlocks  with  the  wicked :  i.  e.  all  objects 
giving  occasion  to  (moral  and  religious)  *  stumbling '  (cf.  Mt. 
xiii.  41 ;  Ez.  xiv.  3,  4,  7),  especially  those  connected  with  idolatry, 
together  with  the  wicked  themselves.  The  clause  is,  however, 
open  to  the  suspicion  of  being  an  addition  to  the  original  text  of 
Zeph,,  made  by  one  who  desiderated  an  express  mention  of  the 
objects  referred  to ;  for  '  it  introduces  an  idea  not  in  harmony 
with  the  rest  of  the  verse '  (Davidson) ;  the  '  wicked  '  are  of  course 
included  implicitly  in  the  terms  of  lines  i  and  4  ;  and  the  word 
rendered  *  stumblingblocks '  does  not  elsewhere  have  this  mean- 
ing, but  signifies  a  '  fallen  mass  '  (Is.  iii.  6). 


112  ZEPHANIAH  1.4.     Z 

4  the  ground,  saith  the  Lord.  And  I  will  stretch  out 
mine  hand  upon  Judah,  and  upon  all  the  inhabitants  of 
Jerusalem ;  and  I  will  cut  off  the  remnant  of  Baal  from 


4-6.  But  the  prophet  is  concerned  chiefly  with  the  judgement 
as  it  affects  his  own  people  ;  and  he  proceeds  accordingly  to 
describe  the  sins  of  Judah  and  Jerusalem,  especially  their  idolatries, 
which  have  called  it  forth.  For  Israel  as  the  centre,  or  culminat- 
ing point,  of  judgement,  cf.  Am.  i-ii ;  Is.  ii.  12 — iii.  5,  iii.  13-14. 

4.  stretch  out  mine  hand  upon :  viz.  in  order  to  smite,  as 
Is,  xiv.  26,  xxiii.  ri  al. 

the  remnant  of  Baal.  It  seems  clear  that  Zephaniah  pro- 
phesied before  the  reformation  in  Josiah's  i8th  year ;  and  hence 
the  expression  '  remnant '  (which  appears  to  imply  that  in  the 
main  the  worship  of  Baal  had  been  already  extirpated)  occasions 
difficulty.  The  supposition  that  the  reference  is  to  the  idolatry 
that  was  spared  in  tlie  reformation  which,  according  to  2  Chron. 
xxxiv.  3-7,  took  place  in  Josiah's  12th  year,  is  questionable :  for 
the  historical  character  of  that  reformation  is  very  doubtful  : 
it  is  not  mentioned  in  the  nearly  contemporary  narrative  of 
2  K.  xxiii  (2  Ch.  xxxiv.  3-7  being  not  excerpted  from  this 
narrative,  but  an  addition,  evidently  the  composition  of  the 
Chronicler  himself),  and,  in  a  matter  of  this  kind,  the  unsupported 
testimony  of  the  Chronicler  alone  (writing  350  years  afterwards) 
is  of  slight  weight.  However,  it  is  thought  by  many  (Ew.,  We., 
Now.,  Dav.)  that  'the  remnant'  may  mean  '(even  to)  the  last 
remnant,'  '  the  last  vestiges '  (cf.  Is.  xiv.  22)  :  the  meaning  will 
then  be  that  the  worship  of  Baal  will  be  whollj''  destroyed  out  of 
Jerusalem  ;  and  of  course  this  might  be  said  before  Josiah's 
reform.  The  LXX,  however,  for  remnant  (iKir)  read  name 
(cur), — perhaps  rightly  (so  Marti)  :  cf.  Hos.  ii.  17  ;  Zech.  xiii.  2, 
as  well  as  the  next  clause  here. 

Baal.  The  god  of  the  Phoenicians  and  Canaanites,  whose 
worship  possessed  a  great  fascination  for  the  Israelites,  and  often 
made  its  way  into  both  Israel  (cf.  i  K.  xviii ;  2  K.  x.  19)  and 
Judah  (2  K.  xxi.  3;  Jer.  vii.  9,  xi.  13,  &c.).  The  word  'Baal' 
signifies  owner,  possessor;  and  applied  to  a  god  it  denotes  him 
properly  as  the  owner  of  a  particular  region  or  place  (as  Baal  of 
Peor,  Baal  of  Lebanon,  Baal  of  T3're,  &c.) :  there  were  thus 
numerous  local  Baals  (hence  the  plural,  '  the  Baalim,*  Jer.  ii.  23 
a/.),— Baal  in  the  singular  (in  the  Heb.  'the  Baal')  denoting  the 
particular  '  Baal '  prominent  at  a  given  time  or  place.  The  Baals 
were  regarded  generally  as  the  givers  of  the  fruits  of  the  soil,  and 
the  increase  of  the  flocks,  and  were  worshipped  by  offerings  of 
the  products  of  nature  (Hos.  ii.  7,  12,  13). 


ZEPHANIAH  1.  5,6.     Z  us 

this  place,  ciMd  the  name  of  the   aChemarim  with  the 
priests ;  and  them  that  worship  the  host  of  heaven  upon  5 
the  housetops;   and  them  that  worship,  which  swear  to 
the  Lord  and  swear  by  ^Malcam ;  and  them  that  are  6 

*  See  2  Kings  xxiii.  5,  Hos.  x.  5. 


Kemarim.  In  the  sing,  komer,  an  Aramaic  word  for  '  priest,' 
found  in  inscriptions  (G.  A.  Cooke,  North-Seniiiic  iHscriptions, 
nos.  64,  65,  69,  98),  and  also  common  in  Syriac :  in  the  O.  T. 
used  only  of  idolatrous  priests,  and  no  doubt  denoting  properly 
the  priests  of  foreign  cults,  introduced  with  their  rites  into  Israel 
(so  here)  ;  elsewhere  applied  contemptuously  to  the  priests  of  an 
unspiritual  or  syncretistic  worship  of  Yahweh,  viz.  Hos.  x.  5,  of 
the  priests  of  the  golden  calves,  and  2  K.  xxiii.  5  of  the  priests  of 
the  high  places,  put  down  by  Josiah. 

with  the  priests :  i.  e.  the  degenerate  regular  priests  of 
Yahweh. 

5-6.  Three  classes  of  the  laity  particularized,  who  will  also  be 
swept  away  in  the  judgement. 

5.  (i)  Those  who  practise  open  idolatry,  and,  in  particular, 
worship  the  host  of  heaven  upon  the  housetops.  The 
allusion  is  to  the  worship  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  a  cult  which 
became  very  prevalent  in  Judah  in  the  later  period  of  the  Kings  : 
see  2  K.  xxi.  3,  5  ;  Jer.  viii.  2,  xix.  13.  The  Israelites  are  warned 
against  being  seduced  into  it  in  Dt.  iv.  ig,  xvii.  3. 

upon  the  housetops.  Where  they  would  obtain  a  more 
open  view  of  the  objects  of  their  adoration :  cf.  Jer.  xix.  13, 
xxxii.  29;  also  2  K.  xxiii.  12. 

(2)  Those  who  worshipped  Yahweh  and  'Malcam  '  (see  below) 
together,  syncretistically. 

which  swear  to  Yahweh  (i.  e.  swear  fealty  to  Yahweh, 
Is.  xix.  18,  xlv.  25)  and  swear  by  this  other  god  (i.  e.  and  yet, 
when  they  come  to  take  an  oath,  have  the  name  of  Milcom  or 
Molech  on  their  lips  : — contrast  the  law  of  Dt.  vi.  13,  x.  20  '  and 
by  his  name  shalt  thou  swear ')^.  Such  'syncretism'  was  com- 
mon in  the  polytheistic  worships  of  antiquity  ;  cf.  in  Israel  Ez. 
xxiii.  39. 

Malcam.  As  pointed  by  the  Massorites  this  means  *  their 
king.'  Most  moderns,  altering  the  vocalization,  read  with  Codd. 
22,  36,  56  of  LXX,  Pesh.,  and  Vulg.,  Milcom — the  name  of  the 

^  The  clause  is  a  little  overloaded ;  and  perhaps  we  should  read 
simply,  without  altering  the  general  sense,  and  them  that  worship 
Yahwehf  who  swear  by  Milcom. 


114  ZEPHANIAH  1.  7     Z 

turned  back  from  following  the  Lord;  and  those  that 
have  not  sought  the  Lord,  nor  inquired  after  him. 
7      Hold  thy  peace  at  the  presence  of  the  Lord  God  : 
for  the  day  of  the  Lord  is  at  hand :    for  the  Lord 

national  god  of  the  Ammonites  (i  K.  xi.  5,  7  [read  with  LXX 
Milcom  for  Molecli],  33  ;  2  K.  xxiii.  13  ;  Jer.  xlix.  i,  3  [where  the 
context  relates  to  Ammon,  so  that  Milcom  is  undoubtedly  to  be 
read,  with  LXX,  Pesh.,  Vulg.,  for  Malcant]).  Although,  however, 
Solomon,  to  gratify  his  foreign  wives,  built  high  places  to  Milcom 
(i  K.,  2  K.,  //.  cc.)  and  other  gods,  the  worship  of  Milcom  is  not 
alluded  to  elsewhere  in  the  O.  T.,  and  does  not  seem,  therefore,  to 
have  been  prevalent  in  Israel  ;  hence  Davidson  and  G.  F.  Moore 
(EB.  iii.  3085)  think  a  reference  to  him  here  to  be  improbable  ; 
they  accordingly  retain  the  Mass.  vocalization,  but  render  their 
king-,  supposing  the  reference  to  be  to  the  god  who  bore  in 
particular  the  title  of  'king,'  i.e.  Molech  (or,  as  the  name  ought 
to  be  pronounced,  Milk'^),  the  Phoenician  god,  whose  inhuman 
rites,  as  2  K.  xxiii.  lo,  Jer.  vii.  31,  Ez.  xvi.  20  f.,  and  other 
passages,  sufficiently  show,  were  prevalent  in  Judah  in  the  age  of 
Zephaniah. 

6.  (3)  Those  who  have  no  thought  or  care  for  religion  at  all, 
who  are  turned  back  froiu  foUowiug  Yaliweli,  and  that  have 
not  sought  Yahweh,  nor  inquired  after  him,  i.  e.  the  religiously 
indifferent. 

*7.  In  view  of  this  approaching  judgement,  the  prophet  pauses 
to  bid  all  prepare  to  meet  it  with  becoming  reverence. 

Hold  thy  peace :  lit.  Hush  !  or  Be  still  I  cf.  on  Hab.  ii.  20. 
for  the  day  of  Yahweh  is  at  hand  (or  near).  The  same 
words,  V.  14  {^^  the  great),  Ob.  15  ;  Is.  xiii.  6;  Ez.  xxx.  3;  Joel 
i.  15,  iii.  14  (cf.  ii.  i).  The  '  day  of  Yahweh '  is  an  expression 
used  frequently  by  the  prophets.  From  Am.  v.  18  we  learn  that 
it  was  a  current  expression  in  Israel  in  Amos's  time  :  the  people 
believed  that  Yahweh  would  appear  ere  long,  and  confer  some 
crowning  victory  upon  His  people,  and  they  even  *■  desired '  the 
advent  of  the  day  on  which  He  would  do  this.  Amos  replies 
that  whether  this  '  day '  would  be  what  they  expected  it  to  be 
depended  upon  their  moral  condition  :  it  would  be  a  day  on  which 
Yahweh  would  manifest  Himself  against  sm,  whether  in  His  own 

^  The  name  forms  part  of  many  Phoenician  proper  names,  and  is 
then  so  transliterated  by  the  classical  writers  :  e.  g.  Milkydthdn, 
*  Milk  has  given.'  The  Phoen.  Milk  ('  Molech  ')  must  not  be  con- 
fused with  the  Ammonite  *  Milcom  ' ;  they  were  two  distinct  deities 
(see  2  K.  xxiii.  10,  13). 


ZEPHANIAH  1.  8.     Z  115 

hath  prepared  a  sacrifice,  he  hath  »  sanctified  his  guests. 
And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  the  day  of  the  Lord's  8 
sacrifice,  that  I  will  ^  punish  the  princes,  and  the  king's 

'^  See  I  Sam.  xvi.  5.  ^  Heb.  visit  upon. 

people  or  among  foreign  nations.  Amos  thus  transformed  a 
popular  idea  ;  and  the  prophets  use  the  expression  in  this  trans- 
formed sense  to  denote  the  day  on  which  Yahweh  is  conceived 
as  manifesting  Himself  in  His  fullness,  striking  down  wrong  and 
illusion  and  human  pride  (Is.  ii.  12  ff.),  and  giving  the  final  victory 
to  righteousness  and  truth.  The  presentiment  of  the  near  approach 
of  '  Yahweh's  day '  was  often  awakened  in  the  minds  of  the 
prophets  by  some  striking  occurrence  (as  in  Joel  by  a  calamitous 
visitation  of  locusts),  and  especially  by  some  great  moral  or 
political  crisis.     Cf.  Davidson,  Theol.  of  the  OT,,  pp.  374  flf. 

prepared  a  sacrifice.  The  sacrifice,  which  is  Israel,  is  slain, 
and  the  guests  who  are  to  eat  of  the  sacrificial  meal,  i.  e.  the  foes 
who  are  to  execute  the  judgement  upon  Israel  (cf.  vv.  15-17),  are 
invited.  The  perfects  are  '  prophetic '  perfects  :  the  prophet 
pictures  the  destruction  of  Judah  as  already  accomplished.  For 
the  figure,  cf.  Jer.  xlvi.  10,  Is.  xxxiv.  6,  Ez.  xxxix.  17.  For 
'guests'  (lit.  called  or  invited  ones),  cf.  i  K.  i.  9 'called,' 41  'guests' 
(lit.  called  ones)  ;  and,  at  a  sacrifice,  i  S.  ix.  13  '  they  that  be 
bidden  (called),'  22,  xvi.  3,  5.  The  foes  whom  Zephaniah  in  all 
probability  has  in  his  mind  are  the  Scythians  (cf.  pp.  lo,  119), 
whose  movements  in  the  North  seem  to  have  suggested  to  Jeremiah 
also  at  about  the  same  time  (cf.  Jer.  iv.  13,  15-17,  29,  v.  15-17,  vi. 
22  f.)  that  they  would  ere  long  invade  and  ravage  Judah,  and  who 
actually,  on  their  way  to  Egypt,  advanced  through  Palestine  as 
far  as  Ashkelon  (Hdt.  i.  105). 

sanctified :  viz.  to  take  part  in  the  sacrificial  meal :  see 
I  S.  xvi.  5.  There  is,  however,  no  doubt  an  allusion  to  the  use  of 
the  same  word  of  war  and  of  warriors, — whether  the  idea  was 
that  a  war  undertaken  in  the  name  of  the  national  god,  Yahweh, 
was  a  holy  one,  or  whether  the  reference  was  to  the  sacrifices  with 
which  a  campaign  was  opened  :  see  RVm.  of  Jer.  vi.  4,  xxii.  7,  li. 
27  f,;  and  cf.  Is.  xiii.  3,  where  Yahweh's  '  consecrated  (0**  sanctified) 
ones  '  mean  the  people  who  are  to  be  the  destroyers  of  Babylon. 

8-12.  The  classes  who  in  particular  will  be  swept  away  by  the 
judgement :  viz.  princes  and  court-officials  who  assumed  foreign 
fashions,  and  perverted  justice  for  purposes  of  gain  {v.  8  f.)  ;  the 
merchants  and  traffickers  in  Jerusalem  {v,  lof.);  and  the  Jews 
sunk  in  religious  indifferentism  {v.  12  f.). 

8.  punish.  Heb.  visit  upoti,  as  regularly,  especially  in  Jer., 
as  ix.  25,  xi.  22,  xiii.  21. 

the  princes  :  i.  e.  the  nobles,  especially  those  entrusted  with 

I   2 


ii6  ZEPHANIAH  1.9,10.     Z 

sons,  and  all  such  as  are  clothed  with  foreign  apparel. 
9  And  in  that  day  I  will  a  punish  all  those  that  leap  over  the 

threshold,  which  fill  their  master's  house  with  violence 
10  and  deceit.     And  in  that  day,  saith  the  Lord,  there  shall 

be  the  noise  of  a  cry  from  the  fish  gate,  and  an  howling 

*  Heb.  visit  upon. 

judicial  or  other  responsible  offices,  which  they  often  abused 
(cf.  iii.  3,  Is.  i.  23,  Mic.  vii.  3,  Ez.  xxii.  27  ;  and  contrast 
Is.  xxxii.  i). 

the  kingr's  sons.  The  expression  means  the  royal  house  in 
general,  and  is  not  to  be  limited  to  the  sons  of  the  reigning  king  ^ 
(cf.  I  K.  xxii.  26  ;  2  K.  xi.  2  ;  Jer.  xxxvi.  26,  xxxviii.  6). 

with  foreign  apparel.  Depreciating  their  own  nationality, 
and  parading  their  sympathy  with  some  foreign  country,  such  as 
Egypt  or  Assyria  (Jer.  ii.  18). 

that  leap  over  the  threshold.  The  allusion  appears  to  be 
to  some  superstitious  foreign  custom.  It  is  a  widespread  belief, 
found  in  many  parts  of  the  world  2,  that  it  is  unlucky  to  step  upon 
a  threshold  ;  and  from  i  S.  v.  5  we  learn  in  particular  that  it 
was  a  Philistine  custom  not  to  tread  upon  the  sacred  threshold 
of  a  sanctuary  (which  is  what  the  Hebrew  word  used  here  and 
elsewhere  denotes,  i  S.  /.  c,  Ez.  ix.  3  «/.).  The  reference  here 
is  not  improbably  to  the  foreign  bodyguard  of  the  Jewish  kings 
(cf.  2  S.  XV.  18  ;  I  K.  i.  38),  who,  like  Oriental  janissaries 
generally,  were  addicted  to  corruption  and  intrigue,  and  so  could 
be  spoken  oin.%  filling  their  masters  house  with  violence  and  deceit'^. 
10.  No  class  of  the  population  will,  however,  be  spared  :  for  the 
wail  of  lamentation  will  be  heard  from  every  quarter  of  the  city 
when  the  judgement  breaks. 

the  fish  g-ate.  So  called,  probably,  from  its  being  near  the 
fish-market.  It  is  mentioned  besides  in  Neh.  iii.  3,  xii.  39 ; 
2  Ch.  xxxiii.  14  ;  and  appears  from  the  first  two  of  these  passages 
to  have  been  in  the  N.  wall  of  the  city,  not  far  from  the  NW. 
corner.  Judah  was  approached  regularly  from  the  N,  by  an 
invader  (cf.  Is.  xiv.  31,  Jer.  i.  14)  :  and  this  is  doubtless  the 
reason  why  one  of  the  gates  on  the  N.  of  Jerusalem  is  here 
mentioned  first. 

*  Josiah's  two  sons,  Jehoiakim  and  Jehoahaz,  would,  in  his  iSth 
year,  be  not  more  than  12  and  10  years  old  respectively  (see  2  K.  xxiii. 
31.  36). 

^  See  Trumbull's  Threshold  Covenant  (1S96),  pp.  10  ff. 

3  W.  R.  Smith,  Old  Test,  in  the  Jewish  Churchy  pp.  249  f. ;  ed.  2, 
pp.  261  f. 


ZEPHANIAH  1.  ir,  12.     Z  117 

from  the  «  second  quarter,  and  a  great  crashing  from  the 
hills.     Howl,  ye  inhabitants  of  ^Maktesh,  for  all  ^the  n 
people  of  Canaan  are  undone :  all  they  that  were  laden 
with  silver  are  cut  off.     And  it  shall  come  to  pass  at  that  1 2 

*  Heb.  Mishtteh.  ^  Or,  The  morfar 

'^  Or,  the  merchant  people 

the  second  (quarter).  Mentioned  also  in  2  K.  xxii.  14 ;  the 
city  was  perhaps  divided  into  districts  for  administrative  purposes. 
Or  (Hitz.,  Now.,  Dav.)  the  'second  quarter'  may  have  been  so 
named  from  its  having  been  recently  added  to  the  city  ;  in  2  Ch. 
xxxiii.  14  Manasseh  is  stated  to  have  built  an  '  outer  wall ' 
extending  as  far  as  the  fish  gate,  and  the  name  may  have  been 
given  to  the  ground  thus  enclosed.     The  site  is  not  known. 

and  of  a  great  crashing*.  Lit.  a  great  breaking  (Jer.  iv. 
6,  vi.  r,  xlviii.  3,  1.  22,  li.  54  :  EW.  '  destruction ') :  the  noise  of 
this  resounds  from  the  hills  (niyu,  not  Cirr,  Ps.  cxxv.  2\  upon 
which  in  particular  the  N.  parts  of  Jerusalem  were  built. 

11.  the  Maktesh.  Evidently  a  part  of  the  city  in  which  traders 
dwelt, — perhaps  (Ewald)  the  '■  Phoenician  quarter '  of  Jerusalem 
(see  the  next  clause).  The  name  means  a  pounding  place,  or 
'mortar'  vProv.  xxvii.  22),  and  is  used  fig.  in  Jud.  xv.  19  of 
a  depression  in  the  ground,  or  'hollow  place.'  No  doubt  it 
denotes  here  some  basin-like  hollow  in  the  city,  perhaps  the 
upper  part  of  the  Tyropoeon  valley  (between  the  E.  and  W.  hills 
on  which  Jerusalem  was  built).  It  may  have  been  mentioned  by 
the  prophet  here  on  account  of  the  omen  of  its  name  :  it  is  a  place 
in  which  people  will  ere  long  be  '  brayed '  (Prov.  xxvii.  22)  or 
'  pounded '  by  the  foe. 

the  people  of  Canaan.  The  expression  is  correctly  para- 
phrased on  the  margin  :  the  Canaanites,  i.  e.  the  Phoenicians  (see 
Gen.  x.  15,  and  cf.  Is.  xxiii.  11),  were  the  chief  traders  in  Palestine, 
and  so  the  term  came  to  be  used  to  denote  a  merchant ;  see  Is. 
xxiii.  8  (where  'traffickers'  is  lit.  Canaanites),  Zech.  xiv.  21,  Job 
xli.  6  ('  merchants  '  is  lit.  Cajtaanites),  Prov.  xxxi.  24  ;  and  cf.  Hos. 
xii.  7,  Ez.  xvi.  29  (where  RVm.  must  be  followed),  xvii.  4  (where 
'  traffic  '  is  lit.  Canaatt).  However,  the  '  merchant  people  '  here 
referred  to  were,  no  doubt,  principally  actual  '  Canaanites,'  or 
Phoenicians  :  cf.  Neh.  xiii.  i6,  where  Tyrian  traders  sell  fish  in 
Jerusalem.  It  may  be  inferred  from  the  present  passage  that 
they  resided  chiefly  in  the  '  Maktesh.' 

all  they  that  were  laden  with  silver.  Or,  with  money ;  the 
allusion  being  to  the  Phoenician  merchants,  laden  with  their  gains, 
or  with  the  money  required  for  the  purchase  of  goods. 

12.  search.      The    word    used    implies    minute   and    diligent 


ii8  ZEPHANIAH  1.    13,  14.     Z 

time,  that  I  will  search  Jerusalem  with  ^  candles ;  and  I 
will  ^'punish  the  men  that  are  c settled  on  their  lees,  that 
say  in  their  heart,  The  Lord  will  not  do  good,  neither 

13  will  he  do  evil.  And  their  wealth  shall  become  a  spoil, 
and  their  houses  a  desolation:  yea,  they  shall  build 
houses,  but  shall  not  inhabit  them ;  and  they  shall  plant 

14  vineyards,  but  shall  not  drink  the  wine  thereof.     The 

*  Heb.  lamps.  ^  Heb,  visit  upon.  ''Or,  thickejted 

search  :  see  e.  g.  2  K.  x.  23  ;  and  by  a  foe,  as  here,  i  K.  xx.  6, 
Ob.  6. 

with  lamps :  i.  e.  so  that  the  darkest  corners  may  be 
thoroughly  explored  (Luke  xv.  8).  The  agents  by  whom  the 
search  will  be  accomplished  are  the  foreign  conquerors  (cf.  v.  13% 
who  would  naturally  penetrate  into  the  darkest  places  in  quest  of 
treasure  (cf.  Is.  xlv.  3),  and  at  the  same  time  slay  those  whom 
they  might  find  concealed  in  them. 

thickened*  on  their  lees:  i.e.  sunk  into  a  state  of  moral 
stagnation  and  spiritual  indifference.  The  figure  is  taken  from 
wine,  which,  after  the  process  of  fermentation  was  complete, 
was  left  upon  its  sediment  or  'lees'  (Is.  xxv.  16)  'only  long 
enough  to  fix  its  colour  and  body.  If  not  then  drawn  off,  it  grew 
thick  and  syrupy — sweeter  indeed  than  the  strained  wine,  and  to 
the  taste  of  some  more  pleasant,  but  feeble  and  ready  to  decay. 
*•'  To  thicken  upon  one's  lees  "  became  a  proverb  for  sloth,  in- 
difference, and  the  muddy  mind '  (G.  A.  Smith,  p.  52). 

will  not  do  grood,  &c.  A  proverbial  expression,  meaning, 
will  not  do  anything  at  all,  will,  in  other  words,  give  no  evidence 
that  He  exists.  Cf.  Gen.  xxxi.  24  ;  and  see  especially  Is.  xli.  23, 
Jer.  X.  5.  The  men  here  referred  to  are  those  who  were  utterly 
indifferent  with  regard  to  Yahweh  (cf.  Ps.  xiv.  i),  and  thought  of 
Him  as  a  lifeless  heathen  god  (Jer.  x.  5),  who  never  asserted  His 
power,  and  had  no  concern  or  regard  for  the  affairs  of  human  life. 

13.  Yahweh,  whom  they  thus  despise,  will,  however,  assert 
Himself :  He  will  '  search '  Jerusalem  by  the  hand  of  the  foe  ;  and 
their  substance  will  be  plundei'ed,  and  their  homes  ruined. 

they  shall  huild  houses,  &c.  Cf.  Am.  v.  11,  Mic.  vi.  15, 
Dt.  xxviii.  30,  39;  and  contrast  Is.  Ixv.  21. 

14-18.  Development  of  the  figure  of  v.  7  ;  and  picture  of  the 
terrors  of  the  approaching  'Daj''  of  Yahweh.     The  imagery  of 

^  Or  stiffened,  solidified  (Ex.  xv.  8,  Job  x.  lo).  The  rendering 
*  settled,'  besides  being  incorrect,  introduces  confusion  with  a  different 
word,  with  a  different  meaning,  which  is  so  rendered  in  Jer.  xlviii.  1 1. 


ZEPHANIAH  1.  15,  i6.     Z  119 

great  day  of  the  Lord  is  near,  it  is  near  and  hasteth 
greatly,  even  the  voice  of  the  day  of  the  Lord;  the 
mighty  man  crieth  there  bitterly.  That  day  is  a  day  of  ^5 
wrath,  a  day  of  trouble  and  distress,  a  day  of  wasteness 
and  desolation,  a  day  of  darkness  and  gloominess,  a  day 
of  clouds  and  thick  darkness,  a  day  of  the  trumpet  and  16 

the  passage  is  suggested  probably  by  the  recent  irruption  into 
Asia  of  hordes  of  Scythians  (Hdt.  i.  103-6),  a  wild  and  fierce 
people,  whose  home  was  N.  of  the  Crimea,  but  who,  like  the 
Huns  or  Bulgarians  of  a  later  day,  were  apt  to  make  destructive 
predatory  incursions  into  distant  parts.  The  Scythians  seem  also 
to  be  the  *  foe  from  the  north  '  referred  to,  at  about  the  same  time, 
in  many  parts  of  Jer.  iv-vi. 

14.  is  near.     Cf.  on  v.  7. 

(even)  the  voice,  &c.  Render  (after  a  colon  at  '  greatly ')  : 
the  sound  of  ...  I  i.  e.  in  our  idiom.  Hark !  the  day  of  Yahweh ! 

the  mighty  man :  i.  e.  the  warrior  :  see  on  Nah.  ii.  3. 

there  :  the  prophet  localizes  the  scene  in  his  imagination 
(cf.  for  this  use  of  'there'  Ps.  xiv,  5,  xxxvi.  12)  ;  and  sees  the 
warrior  crying  there  bitterly^  unable  to  deliver  himself  (Am.  ii. 
14-16),  and  consequently  in  despair  (Jer.  xxx.  6f.,  Is.  xiii.  7). 

15.  That  day  is  a  day  of  wrath.  These  words,  as  rendered 
in  the  Vulgate,  Dies  irae  dies  ilia,  form  the  opening  words  of  the 
well-known  hymn  of  Thomas  of  Celano  (a.  d.  c.  1250)  on  the  Last 
Judgement. 

wasteness  and  desolation.  In  the  Hebrew  an  alliterative 
combination  (cf.  on  Nah.  ii.  11),  which  recurs  in  Job  xxx.  3, 
xxxviii.  27. 

a  day  of  darkness,  &c.  These  and  the  following  words,  to 
the  end  of  the  verse,  are  repeated  by  Joel  (ii.  2)  in  his  description 
of  the  coming  Day  of  Yahweh.  For  the  celestial  manifestations 
accompanying  Yahweh's  *  Day,'  cf.  Am.  v.  18,  20,  viii.  9 ;  Is.  xiii. 
10;  Joel  iii.  15. 

16.  Close  of  the  description,  showing  that  the  Day  will  be  one 
on  which  a  foe  advances  with  the  alarm  of  war  against  the 
defences  of  Judah  and  Jerusalem. 

of  the  trumpet  (more  exactly,  of  the  horn  ^^,  and  of  shout- 
ing" ^  :  accompanying  the  assault  of  the  foe.    Cf.  Am.  i.  14  'with 

^  See  the  writer's  note  on  Am.  ii.  2  in  the  Canib.  Bible  for  Schools. 

^  '  Alarm '  has  in  modern  English  lost  the  martial  sense  which  it 
once  expressed  (Ital.  All^  anne  I  '  To  arms  ! '),  and  expresses  merely 
the  general  idea  of  consternation  :  it  is  thus  no  longer  an  adequate 
rendering  of  the  Hebrew  here. 


I20  2EPHANIAH  1.  i?,  i8.    Z 

alarm,  against  the  fenced  cities,  and  against  the  high 

17  ^battlements.  And  I  will  bring  distress  upon  men,  that 
they  shall  walk  like  Wind  men,  because  they  have  sinned 
against  the  Lord  :  and  their  blood  shall  be  poured  out 

1 8  as  dust,  and  their  flesh  as  dung.  Neither  their  silver  nor 
their  gold  shall  be  able  to  deliver  them  in  the  day  of  the 
Lord's  wrath ;  but  the  whole  land  shall  be  devoured  by 
the   fire  of  his  jealousy :    for  he   shall   make   an   end, 

^  Or,  corner  towers 


shouting  in  the  day  of  battle,'  ii.  2  'and  Moab  shall  die  .  .  .  amid 
shouting,  and  the  sound  of  the  horn.' 

fenced.  Render  rather,  fortified:  'fenced'  being  obsolete 
in  the  sense  here  intended.     Cf.  Is.  ii.  15. 

battlements.  The  word  used  signifies  properly  corners  (Jer. 
xxxi.  38,  40),  i.  e.,  no  doubt,  fortified  corners  of  the  wall  (cf.  RVm.). 
So  iii.  6,  2  Ch.  xxvi.  15. 

17.  The  verse  expands  the  thought  of  the  distress  of  v.  16. 
Men  will  be  so  bewildered  by  the  calamity  that  they  will  be 
helpless,  and  as  little  able  as  the  blind  to  find  a  way  of  escape 
(cf.  for  the  figure  Dt.  xxviii.  29,  Is.  lix.  10) ;  their  blood  will  be 
poured  out  as  though  it  were  of  as  little  account  as  dust  (cf.  '  like 
water,'  Ps.  Ixxix.  3),  and  their  flesh  as  if  it  were  nothing  better 
than  dung. 

sinned:  in  the  manner  described  in  vv.  4-6,  8-12. 

their  flesli.  The  word  is  not  the  usual  Heb.  word  for  '  flesh,' 
and  the  meaning  has  been  questioned  :  but  it  has  support  from 
Arabic  (cf.  Job  xx.  23"=  '  into  his  flesh  '). 

as  dung.  The  comparison  (though  the  Heb.  word  used  is 
different),  as  i  K.  xiv.  10,  Jer.  ix.  22. 

18.  Even  their  treasures  will  not  be  able  to  save  their  lives  : 
cf.  Ez.  vii.  19  (almost  the  same  words).  Is.  xiii.  17. 

land  (twice).  This  rend,  suits  the  context  (in  which,  from 
V.  4,  Judah  alone  has  been  spoken  of)  ;  but  most  moderns  (Keil, 
We.,  Now.,  Dav.),  observing  that  this  verse  closes  the  entire  de- 
scription, think  it  more  likely  that  the  prophet  would  revert  to  the 
thought  with  which  he  opened,  vv.  2  f.,  viz.  the  universality  of  the 
judgement,  and  render  therefore  each  time  by  earth  (cf.  iii.  8, 
where  '  earth  '  is  certainly  right). 

the  fire  of  his  jealousy.  Cf.  on  Nah,  i.  2.  God's  '  jealousy ' 
is  aroused  by  the  dishonour  shown  towards  Him,  and  the  dis- 
regard of  what  is  His  rightful  due  :  cf.  Dt.  iv.  24,  xxix.  20  ;  Ez. 


ZEPHANIAH  2.  i,  2.     Z  121 

yea,  a  ^terrible  end,  of  all  them  that  dwell  in  the 
land. 

Gather   yourselves  together,  yea,  gather   together,  O  2 
nation  that  hath  no  ^  shame ;   before  the  decree  bring  2 

*  Or,  speedy  ^  Or,  longing 

xxxvi.  5,  xxxviii.  19;  Ps.  Ixxix.  5  (in  which  passages  jealousy 
is  also,  as  here,  compared  to  fire).  The  entire  clause  is  repeated 
in  iii.  8  end. 

yea :  implying  a  slight  but  necessary  correction  (r[«  for  -|^»). 

a  terrible  end.  Marg.  Or,  a  speedy  end.  The  Heb.  includes 
both  ideas,  a  sudden  terror  or  dismay  being  what  is  denoted  by  it. 
Cf.  the  cognate  subst.  in  Lev.  xxvi.  16  ('terror'),  Is.  Ixv.  23, 
Jer.  XV.  8,  Ps.  Ixxviii.  33.  The  clause  seems  suggested  by  Is. 
X.  23  (the  word  rendered  '  consummation '  there  being  the  same 
as  that  which  is  rendered  *  end '  here). 

ii.  Having  finished  his  picture  of  the  impending  judgement,  the 
prophet  now  proceeds  to  urge  his  people  to  repent,  if  perchance 
they  may  escape  the  threatened  doom  ivv.  1-3),  which  will 
engulf,  he  declares,  in  succession,  the  Philistines,  Moab  and 
Ammon,  Ethiopia,  and  even  Nineveh,  the  proud  capital  of 
Assyria,  itself  {vv.  4-15). 

Gather  yourselves  togetlier,  yea,  gfather  togfether.  The 
rendering  is  most  uncertain.  The  Hebrew  verb  is  formed  from 
the  Hebrew  word  for  stubbhy  and  means  onl}^  to  gather  like  stubble 
(Ex.  V.  7,  Nu.  XV.  32^1  ;  and  a  figurative  application  of  such  a  verb 
either  in  the  sense  of  assembling  together,  or  1  KeiH  of  collecting 
oneself  mer\\.3\\y,  for  self-examination  and  reflection,  the  first  step 
towards  repentance,  is  most  improbable.  Read  probably  (with 
Gratz,  Cheyne,  and  Budde),  changing  two  letters,  Get  you  shame, 
and  he  ye  ashamed,  O  nation  unabashed  ^. 

2.  The  ground  for  the  exhortation  in  z;.  i  :  be  ashamed,  and 
repent  of  your  past  lives,  before  the  judgement  overtakes  you, 
and  it  is  too  late. 

before  the  decree, — i.e.  God's  decree  of  judgement. — bring's 
forth,  i.  e.  takes  effect  (cf.  Prov.  xxvii.  i).  The  next  words,  as 
they  stand,  can  be  rendered  only  as  a  parenthesis,  as  they  are  on 

^  This  meaning  for  F|DD3  is  supported  by  the  sense  of  the  root  in 
Aramaic  (see  theTarg.  of  Ps.  xxxv.  4,  Ixix.  7).  RV'm.  that  hath  no 
longing  understands  the  verb  in  the  meaning  it  has  elsewhere  in 
Hebrew  (Gen.  xxxi.  30;  Ps.  Ixxxiv.  2)  :  but  the  sense  thus  obtained 
is  incomplete,  *  for  God  '  or  '  for  amendment '  being  more  than  could 
be  reasonably  understood  without  being  expressed. 


122  ZEPHANIAH  2.  3.     Z 

forth,  ^  before  the  day  pass  as  the  chaff,  before  the  fierce 
anger  of  the  Lord  come  upon  you,  before  the  day  of  the 
3  Lord's  anger  come  upon  you.  Seek  ye  the  Lord,  all  ye 
meek  of  the  earth,  which  have  wrought  his  judgement ; 
seek  righteousness,  seek  meekness  :  it  may  be  ye  shall  be 

*  Or,  (the  day  passeth  as  the  chaffs) 

the  margin  :  the  day, — i.e.  the  time  of  respite  till  the  decree  takes 
effect, — passeth  away  rapidly  as  the  chaff.  But  both  these  opening 
clauses  are  expressed  unnaturally,  and  yield  a  forced  sense ;  and 
there  is  little  doubt  that  the  true  text  is  that  restored  by  Gratz  and 
Wellh.,  on  the  basis  of  the  LXX  :  before  ye  become  as  chaif 
that  passetli  away.     For  the  comparison  with  chaff,  cf.  Ps.  i.  4. 

before  the  day,  &c.  The  clause  reads  like  an  explanation  of 
the  more  general  words,  Hhe  fierceness  of  Yahweh's  anger,'  in 
the  preceding  clause  :  as  the  Syriac  translation  of  the  Hexaplar 
text  of  the  LXX  shows,  it  was  not  part  of  the  original  LXX  ;  and 
recent  scholars  are  generally  disposed  to  regard  it  as  a  gloss. 

3.  As  the  judgement  is  thus  near,  let  the  faithful,  especially, 
seek  Yahweh  in  prayer  and  supplication  (2  S.  xii.  16,  Hos.  v.  6), 
if  perchance  they  may  escape  the  calamity  which  will  engulf 
their  neighbours ;  let  them  follow,  even  more  earnestly  than 
before,  righteousness  and  meekness. 

aU  ye  meek  of  the  land.  So  Is.  xi.  4,  Ps.  Ixxvi.  9.  Humble 
would,  however,  be  a  better  rendering  than  '  meek ' ;  for  the 
Heb.  'dndw  predicates  not  an  attitude  towards  men,  but  an  attitude 
towards  God,  and  denotes  one  who  bows  or  humbles  himself  under 
the  hand  of  God.  The  word  is  often  used  in  the  prophets  and 
Psalms  (e.  g.  xxxvii.  1 1)  of  the  pious  and  faithful  worshippers  of 
Yahweh,  as  opposed  to  the  '■  wicked,'  the  '  evil-doers,'  the  '  proud,' 
&c.  From  another  side  of  their  character  the  same  God-fearing 
Israelites  are  often  spoken  of  as  the  'poor,'  or  the  'afflicted' : 
see  on  iii.  12. 

his  judg-ement.  Rather,  his  ordinance,  as  the  word  is 
often  rendered  (e.  g.  Is.  Iviii.  2,  Jer.  viii.  7).  Properly,  indeed, 
it  means  the  judgement  or  decision  of  a  judge  :  then  it  comes  to 
mean  (as  Ex.  xxi.  i)  a  '  judgement '  which  is  made  a  statute  of 
permanent  obligation  ;  and  finally,  in  a  wider  sense,  it  is  used  of 
a  moral  or  religious  ordinance,  whether  it  has  originally  been 
prescribed  as  a  particular  'judgement'  or  not.  So  Jer.  v.  4,  5 
(cf.  viii.  7). 

it  may  be  ye  shall  be  hid,  &c.  For  the  figure,  cf.  Is.  xxvi. 
20.  '  Even  amidst  what  looks  like  absolute  certainty  of  the  Divine 
judgement,  the  prophets  cannot  renounce  the  idea  of  the  possibility 


ZEPHANIAH  2.  4,5.     Z  123 

hid  in  the  day  of  the  Lord's  anger.     For  Gaza  shall  be  4 
forsaken,  and  Ashkelon  a  desolation:   they  shall  drive 
out  Ashdod  at  the  noonday,  and  Ekron  shall  be  rooted 
up.     Woe  unto  the  inhabitants  of  ^  the  sea  coast,  the  5 

°-  Or,  t/ie  region  of  the  sea 

of  the  people's  repenting  and  averting  the  impending  wrath  :  cf. 
Jer.  vii.  5-7,  xxvi.  3,  xxxvi.  3,  5 ;  Am.  v.  6,  15 '  (Davidson). 
These  *  humble  *  are  naturally  those  of  whom  the  '  remnant '  of 
w.  7,  9,  iii.  12  f.  consists,  who  are  to  escape  the  judgement,  and 
form  the  nucleus  of  the  purer  community  of  the  future. 

4-14.  The  ground  of  the  preceding  exhortation  ('For,'t;.  4)  : 
the  entire  heathen  world,  represented  partly  by  some  of  Israel's 
nearest  neighbours,  partly  by  ancient  and  famous  nations  further 
off,  will  be  overwhelmed  by  the  judgement.  The  nations  men- 
tioned are  intended  to  represent  the  world  at  large. 

4-7.  The  Philistines  were  old  enemies  of  the  Israelites,  and 
ready  to  harass  them  whenever  the  opportunity  offered  :  hence 
many  of  the  prophets  have  oracles  against  them  (Am.  i.  6-8  ; 
Is.  xiv.  29-32;  Jer.  xlvii ;  Ez.  xxv.  15-17  ;  Zech.  ix.  5f.). 

4.  The  places  mentioned  are  four  of  the  five  principal  Philistine 
cities  (i  S.  vi.  17),  the  fifth  being  Gath.  In  the  Hebrew  for 
'  Gaza  shall  be  forsaken '  {^azzdh  'asiibah),  and  '  Ekron  shall  be 
rooted  up'  {^ekron  ie^dkei'),  there  are  assonances,  such  as  the 
Hebrew  prophets  love,  which  cannot  be  reproduced  in  English 
(cf.  Mic.  i.  10  ff.,  Ez.  xxv.  16)  :  each  city  will  fulfil,  as  it  were, 
the  omen  of  its  name. 

forsaken :  i.  e.  depopulated ;  cf.  Is.  vi.  12,  vii.  16. 

drive  out  Ashdod :  i.  e,  expel  forcibly  (Ex.  xxiii.  28-30)  its 
inhabitants. 

at  the  noonday.  At  the  time  of  the  noonday  siesta  (2  S. 
iv.  5),  and  implying  consequently  a  sudden  surprise  (cf.  Jer.  xv.  8 
'a  spoiler  at  noonday'). 

5.  The  entire  people  and  land  of  the  Philistines  are  here  ad- 
dressed. 

Ah !  the  inhabitants  of  the  region  of  the  sea  (RVm.)  :  i.  e. 
of  the  strip  of  territory  on  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  on  the  W.  of 
Judah,  belonging  to  the  Philistines  :  cf.  Ez.  xxv.  16  ('the  remnant 
of  the  sea  coast,'  of  the  Philistines  then  remaining).  '  Coast '  in  RV. 
is  here  an  archaism,  the  word  being  used  in  its  now  obsolete  sense 
of  side  (Fr,  cote,  Old-Fr.  coste,  Lat.  costa,  a  rib),  border,  part, 
which  it  often  has  in  AV.  (as  Ex.  x.  4 ;  Dt.  ii.  4,  xi.  24,  xvi.  4, 
xix.  8, — all  changed  in  RV.  to  '  border  '  ;  Mt.  ii.  16,  viii.  34,  xv.  21  ; 
Acts  xix.  i),  in  RV.  retained  only  here  and  vv,  5,  6.  For  Ah  ! 
see  on  Nah.  iii.  i. 


124  ZEPHANIAH  2.  6.     Z 

nation  of  the  Cherethites !     The  word  of  the  Lord  is 

against  you,  O  Canaan,  the  land  of  the  Phihstines ;   I 

6  will  destroy  thee,  that  there  shall  be  no  inhabitant.    And 

the  sea  coast  shall  be  pastures,  with  «■  cottages  for  shep- 

*  Or,  caves 

the  Cherethites.  Apparently  the  name  of  a  clan,  or  sub- 
division, of  the  Philistines,  mentioned  besides  in  i  S.  xxx.  14,  and 
Ez.  XXV.  16.  Most  probably  so  called  as  being  immigrants  from 
Crete;  cf.  Am.  ix.  7,  Dt.  ii.  23,  which  state  that  the  Philistines 
were  immigrants  from  'Caphtor,'  which  is  generally  identified 
with  Crete. 

Canaan.  Applied  unusually  to  the  land  of  the  Philistines  : 
see,  however,  Jos.  xiii.  3.  Wellh.,  Now.  omit  it,  reading  at  the 
same  time  'against  thee'  for  'against  them':  but  the  LXX 
express  the  same  Hebrew  text  which  we  have  now. 

6.  RV.  is  singularly  simple  and  flowing  ;  and  no  reader  would 
suspect  from  it  the  extraordinary  Hebrew  of  which  in  the  middle 
clause  it  purports  to  be  the  translation.  The  word  rendered 
'cottages,'  or  (RVm.)  'caves/  is  otherwise  unknown  in  either 
sense  :  and  'with'  is  a  thoroughly  illegitimate  paraphrase.  The  text 
cannot  be  correct.  LXX  render  (as  if  they  read  m:  niD  for  ntD  pnz) : 
And  Chereth  (i.  e.  the  land  of  the  Chfirethites,  v.  5)  shall  become  an 
habitation^  of  shepherds  (Jer.  xxx.  12',  and  folds  for  flocks  (the 
country,  viz.,  being  depopulated  ;  cf.  Is.  v.  17,  xxvii.  10,  Ez.  xxv. 
5):  we  may  either  adopt  this,  or,  treating  mD  as  a  faulty  repetition 
of  m2,  render  simply,  And  it  shall  become  an  habitation^  &c.  "■* 

7.  The  Philistine  country  will  become  a  pasture-ground  for  the 
remnant  of  Judah  :  they  will  feed  their  flocks  by  the  sea,  and 
come  to  rest  for  the  night  in  the  deserted  houses  of  Ashkelon. 
For  the  thought  of  Israel  in  the  future  taking  possession  of  the 
territory  of  its  neighbours,  cf.  Am.  ix.  12,  Is.  xi.  14,  Jer.  xlix.  2, 
Obad.  19-20. 

^  RV.  *  pastures ' :  but  m: — properly,  a  homestead^  or  country 
habitation  (Is.  xxvii.  10,  xxxii.  18),  but  sometimes  used  more 
generally,  as  Ex.  xv.  13,  Prov.  iii.  33  {Lex.  627'')— does  not  mean  this, 
except  in  so  far  as  a  habitation  for  flocks  would  be  a  '  pasture  ' 
(Is.  Ixv.  10)  ;  in  Ez.  xxv.  5  it  is  even  rendered  'stable.'  (Read 
rn:,  not  ni:,  an  anomalous  and  improbable  form  of  the  plural.) 

^  a»rT  bin  (RV.  'the  sea  coast'),  at  the  beginning  of  the  verse, 
seems  to  have  come  in  here  by  error  from  v.  7  (where  both  words 
must  have  once  stood  :  see  the  note  on  that  versed :  observe  that  rrrTn 
(*  shall  be')  does  not  agree  in  gender  with  San. 


ZEPHANIAH  2.^,^     ZKZ  125 

herds  and  folds  for  flocks.  And  the  coast  shall  be  for  the 
remnant  of  the  house  of  Judah;  they  shall  feed  their  flocks 
thereupon  ;  in  the  houses  of  Ashkelon  shall  they  lie  down 
in  the  evening ;  [A]  for  the  Lord  their  God  shall  visit 
them,  and  bring  again  their  captivity.  [Zj  I  have  heard 
the  reproach  of  Moab,  and  the  revilings  of  the  children 

And  tlie  coast.  Read,  with  LXX.  And  the  regfion  of  the  sea, 

as  V.  5. 

the  remnant  of  the  house  of  Judah  :  i.  e.  those  who  escape 
the  coming  judgement,  and,  it  is  implied  (see  on  iii.  11),  are 
righteous,  and  worthy  of  God's  favour  and  protection. 

thereupon.  The  Hebrew  is  upon  (or  by)  them.  Read  with 
We.,  Now.,  Smith,  Marti,  by  the  sea  (err  br  for  cn'ry). 

lie  down.  The  word  means  to  lie  doivn  as  an  animal  (cf. 
V.  14)  :  but  it  is  used  here  fig.  of  men,  as  iii.  13,  Is.  xiv.  30, 
Job  xi.  19. 

visit.     In  a  favourable  sense,  as  Jer.  xxvii.  22,  xxix.  10. 

and  turn  their  captivity.  The  prophet  pictures,  therefore, 
the  '  remnant '  as  in  exile.  This,  however,  though  not  impossible 
in  itself,  agrees  badly  with  the  representation  in  v.  3  t^where 
Zephaniah  holds  out  to  the  godly  Israelites  the  hope  that  they  will 
escape  the  coming  judgement,  and  consequently  not  be  carried  into 
exile) ;  so  that  perhaps  this  and  the  last  clause  are  a  later  addition, 
made  by  one  who  did  not  notice  the  inconsistency  with  v.  3. 

8-11.  The  judgement  is  addressed  next  to  Moab  and  Ammon, 
two  kindred  peoples,  who  had  often  in  the  past  shown  themselves 
unfriendly  towards  Israel,  and  manifested  a  haughty  and  encroach- 
ing spirit.  The  territory  of  Moab  was  on  the  E.  of  the  Dead  Sea  : 
that  of  Ammon  was  on  the  NE.  of  Moab,  their  principal  town 
being  Rabbah  (2  S.  xii.  26,  29;  Jer.  xlix.  2),  called  by  the  Greeks 
Philadelphia. 

8.  Z  have  heard.  The  speaker  is  Yahweh  (see  v.  9).  The 
words  read  like  a  reminiscence  of  Is.  xvi.  6  (cf.  Jer.  xlviii.  29). 

the  reproach  of  Moab,  &c.  Contemptuous  and  reproachful 
words  uttered  against  Israel  or  Yahweh,  such  as  the  taunts  in 
Ez.  xxv.  3,  6,  8  (cf.  xxi.  28),  spoken  at  the  time  when  Jerusalem 
was  taken  and  burnt  by  the  Chaldaeans  (b.  c.  586), — though  this 
cannot  be  the  occasion  actually  referred  to,  unless  indeed  (see 
p.  109)  w.  8-10  are  an  addition  to  the  original  prophecy  of 
Zephaniah  made  by  a  later  writer.  The  attitude  of  Moab, 
especially,  towards  Israel  seems  to  have  been  in  general  arrogant 
and  overweening:  cf.  2  S.  x.  4 ;  Is.  xvi.  6,  xxv.  11;  Jer.  xlviii. 
26,  27,  29-30  (expansion  of  Is.  xvi.  6},  42. 


126  ZEPHANIAH  2.  9.     Z 

of  Ammon,  wherewith  they  have  reproached  my  people, 
9  and  magnified  themselves  against  their  border.  There- 
fore as  I  live,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  the  God  of  Israel, 
Surely  Moab  shall  be  as  Sodom,  and  the  children  of 
Ammon  as  Gomorrah,  a  possession  of  « nettles,  and 
saltpitS;  and  a  perpetual  desolation :  the  residue  of  my 
people  shall  spoil  them,  and  the  remnant  of  my  nation 

*  Or,  wild  vetches 


ag'ainst  their  border.  In  the  endeavour  to  enlarge  their 
own  territory  :  cf.  (of  the  Ammonites)  Am.  i.  13,  Jer.  xlix.  i. 

9.  as  Sodom  .  .  .  and  as  Gomorrah.  The  site  of  which 
is  referred  to  elsewhere  also  as  a  salt  and  barren  plain,  a  type  of 
desolation  (Dt.  xxix.  23;  Is.  xiii.  19;  Jer.  xlix.  18  =  1.  40). 

of  nettles.  The  rendering  is  uncertain  :  but,  whatever  the 
hdriil  may  have  been,  it  must  have  been  a  plant  characteristic  of 
uncultivated  places  (Job  xxx.  7  ;  Prov.  xxiv.  31).  *  Thorns  '  in 
Prov.  xxiv.  31  ought  to  be  *  nettles '  (cf.  Hos.  ix.  6,  Is.  xxxiv.  13); 
hence  hdrid,  which  stands  in  the  parallel  clause,  must  be  some- 
thing different ;  and  in  Syriac  /it7;'o/ signifies  a  vetch  (hence  RVm.). 
On  the  other  hand,  Job  xxx.  7  seems  to  require  some  kind  of 
shrub;  and  v^hereas  the  present  passage  implies  that  the  hdriil 
MTould  grow  in  a  poor  or  salt  soil,  vetches  love  a  good  soil. 
Tristram  {NHB.  475)  suggests  the  Prickly  Acanthus;  Post  {DB. 
s.  v.)  some  kind  of  thorny  shrub  such  as  the  Boxthorn,  three 
species  of  which  are  indigenous  in  Palestine,  and  grow  in  waste 
places  and  salty  soil. 

saltpits.  The  comparison  is  suggested  by  the  country  border- 
ing on  the  Dead  Sea.  At  the  SW.  of  this  sea  there  is  a  remark- 
able range  of  cliffs,  some  600  feet  high,  and  5  miles  long,  called 
Jebel  Usdum,  composed  almost  entirely  of  salt — deposited  in  the 
remote  period  when  the  whole  of  the  Jordan  valley,  and  the 
depression  containing  the  Dead  Sea  itself,  was  a  great  inland  lake. 
Salt  for  Jerusalem  is  still  procured  chiefly  from  this  district,  being 
partly  cut  directly  from  the  salt  cliffs,  partly  obtained  from  pits 
dug  into  the  sand  or  slime  of  the  shore,  into  which  the  waters  of 
the  Dead  Sea  are  admitted,  and  then  allowed  to  evaporate  (cf.  the 
allusion  in  i  Mace.  xi.  35). 

spoil  them  .  .  .  possess  them.  The  pronouns  must  refer  to 
*  Moab '  and  'the  children  of  Ammon,'  the  prophet  turning  from 
the  contemplation  of  their  territory  to  that  of  the  peoples  them- 
selves :  they  will  be  plundered  by  the  '  remnant '  of  Israel,  and 
taken  by  them  for  their  own  possession  as  slaves  (cf.  for  the 
thought  Is.  xiv.  2,  Ixi.  5). 


ZEPHANIAH  2.  10-12.     ZAZ  127 

shall  inherit  them.     This  shall  they  have  for  their  pride,  10 
because  they  have  reproached  and  magnified  themselves 
against  the  people  of  the  Lord  of  hosts.    [A]  The  Lord  i  i 
will  be  terrible  unto  them  :  for  he  will  famish  all  the  gods 
of  the  earth ;  and  men  shall  worship  him,  every  one  from 
his  place,  even  all  the  *  isles  of  the  nations.     [Z]   Ye  la 
*  Or,  coast-lands 

10.  This  verse  finishes  and  rounds  off  the  passage  on  Moab  and 
Ammon  by  repeating  the  thought  of  v.  8. 

11.  Heathen  gods  will  be  overthrown  ;  and  men  generally  will 
worship  Yahweh.  The  verse  agrees  badly  with  its  context : 
the  fact  that  Yahweh  will  overthrow  the  heathen  gods  in  general 
does  not  seem  to  be  a  natural  reason  ('for')  for  the  destruction 
of  Moab  and  Ammon  ;  and  v.  12,  instead  of  pursuing  the  thought 
of  V.  II*',  resumes  the  enumeration  of  particular  nations  (like 
w.  4-9)  upon  whom  the  judgement  will  alight.  Many  recent 
scholars  think  the  verse  to  be  an  addition  by  a  later  writer,  who 
desiderated  here  some  expression  of  the  two  thoughts  of  the 
destruction  of  heathen  gods,  and  the  recognition  of  Yahweh  by 
the  world  in  general. 

■ante  them.  Over  tlxem, — appearing  over  them  in  judge- 
ment (Zech.  ix.  14).  The  pron.  (as  the  verse  stands)  refers  to 
Moab  and  Ammon. 

famish.  Better,  make  lean :  for  the  figure,  as  expressing  the 
weakening  or  failing  of  a  nation  or  army,  see  Is.  x,  16,  xvii.  4. 
It  is,  however,  somewhat  strange  as  applied  to  heathen  gods  : 
if  the  text  is  correct^,  the  meaning  will  be  that  they  will  be 
rendered  powerless  by  Yahweh,  and  so  be  unable  to  defend  their 
worshippers  ;  for  the  general  thought  Is.  xix.  1-3,  Ez.  xxx.  13 
might  then  be  compared. 

and  men  shall  worship  him,  &c.  Being  brought  to  perceive 
the  unreality  of  heathen  gods,  by  their  inability  to  save  the 
peoples  who  trusted  in  them. 

every  one  from  his  place :  i.  e.  each  from  the  place  in  which 
he  lives,  without, — at  least  necessarily, — making  a  pilgrimage  to 
Jerusalem,  such  as  the  prophets  usually  picture  the  nations  as 
making,  after  they  have  been  brought  to  the  knowledge  of 
Yahweh,  for  purposes  of  worship  (Is.  ii.  3,  Ixvi.  23  ;  Zech.  viii.  22, 
xiv.  16). 

all  the  isles  of  the   nations.    The  word   rendered  15/^5 


^  In  any  case  nn  must  be  read  for  the  intransitive  nrj, 


128  ZEPHANIAH  2.  13,  14.     Z 

13  Ethiopians  also,  ye  shall  be  slain  by  my  sword.  And  he 
will  stretch  out  his  hand  against  the  north,  and  destroy 
Assyria;  and  will  make  Nineveh  a  desolation,  and  dry 

14  like  the  wilderness.  And  herds  shall  lie  down  in  the 
midst  of  her,  » all  the  beasts  of  the  nations :  both  the 

*  Or,  all  beasts  0/ every  kind 

includes  also  coast-lands  (RVm.),  being  used  primarily  of  the 
islands  and  jutting  promontories  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea  (see 
Gen.  X.  5,  Ez.  xxvi.  15,  18),  though  sometimes,  especially  in  the 
Second  Isaiah  (e.  g.  xli.  i,  xlix.  i,  li.  5),  these  are  taken  as 
representative  of  the  heathen  world  generally.  And  the  latter, 
no  doubt,  is  the  sense  in  which  the  expression  is  used  here. 

12.  EtMopians.  Heb.  Kushites  (see  on  Nah.  iii.  9),  on  the 
S.  of  Egypt,  taken  as  an  example  of  a  distant  (Is.  xi,  11)  and 
also  famous  (Is.  xviii.  i  f.)  nation,  upon  which  Yahweh's  judge- 
ment will  alight. 

also.  As  well  as  the  Philistines  and  Moab  and  Amnion 
{vv.  4-7,  8-10). 

slain  "by  my  sword.     Cf.  Is.  Ixvi.  16,  Jer.  xxv.  33. 
13-15.  In   the   opposite   direction    Nineveh,    the    proud    and 
magnificent  capital  of  Assyria,    will   be   humbled,   and   become 
a  desolation. 

13.  against  the  north.  Nineveh  was  550  miles  NE.  of  Judah; 
but  Assyrian  armies  having  Palestine  as  their  goal  would  naturally 
cross  the  Euphrates  at  the  great  ford  of  Carchemish,  300  miles 
W.  of  Nineveh,  and  so  would  make  their  entrance  into  Palestine 
from  the  north  (cf.  on  i.  10).  Hence  Assyria,  and  even  Babylon 
(Zech.  ii.  6),  though  this  was  due  E.  of  Judah,  are  designated  as 
the  'north.'     See  further  'North  Country'  in  DB. 

14.  The  desolation  of  Nineveh  :  its  site  will  become  the  haunt 
of  wild  animals,  especially  of  such  as  frequent  ruins.  Cf.  the 
pictures  of  Babylon  in  Is.  xiii.  21  f.,  and  of  Edom  in  Is.  xxxiv. 
13-15.  The  fate  of  Nineveh  is  thus  worse  than  that  of  the 
Philistine  land  (y.  6)  :  the  Philistine  land  is  depopulated,  and 
becomes  a  pasture-ground  for  flocks  ;  Nineveh  becomes  a  waste^ 
haunted  only  by  desert  animals. 

herds.  As  the  sequel  shows,  not  of  domestic  animals,  but 
of  wild  creatures. 

all  the  beasts  of  the  nations.  The  text  cannot  be  in  order, 
'  the  nations '  being  an  impossible  rendering  of  '1:,  and  RVm. 
implying  the  addition  of  a  word,  'every*  (id:  cf.  Gen.  vii.  14, 
Ez.  xvii.  23,  2  Ch.  xxxii.  15),  besides  giving  to  '1:  the  other- 
wise unsubstantiated  sense  of '  kind.'    We  may  read  S"-*:  'nations'; 


ZEPHANIAH  2.  14.     Z  129 

pelican  and  the  porcupine  shall  lodge  in  the  chapiters 
thereof:  their  voice  shall  sing  in  the  windows;  '^desolation 
shall  be  in  the  thresholds:  for  he  hath  laid  bare  the  cedar 

*  Or,  drought 

or  we  may  follow  LXX  and  read  '  all  the  beasts  of  the  earth'*  (as 
Gen.  i.  24,  Ps.  Ixxix.  2),  supposing  (Marti)  yiN  to  have  fallen 
out  in  the  Heb.  text,  and  nj  to  be  a  faulty  anticipation  of  the 
following  d:  ;  or,  with  Halevy,  read  '  of  the  valley'*  (yci  for  ^ij). 

the  pelican  and  the  porcupine.  The  pelican  is  mentioned 
in  Ps.  cii.  6,  the  porcupine  in  Is.  xiv.  23,  and  both  together  in 
Is.  xxxiv.  II, — each  time  as  haunting  a  solitude,  or  ruined  site. 
The  pelican  lives  upon  fish  :  it  abounds,  for  instance,  in  the  great 
sandy  wastes  near  the  mouths  of  the  Danube,  and  in  the  swamps 
of  the  Jordan  valley  and  the  Orontes.  The  porcupine  is  a  shj-, 
solitary  animal,  which  might  well  choose  its  home  among  desolate 
ruins(Z)S.,  s.  V.  'Bittern,'  as  the  Heb.  ^i^/d^/ was  renderedinAV.). 
The  correctness  of  the  rendering  '  porcupine  '  has  been  questioned 
upon  zoological  grounds  ;  but  the  ancient  versions  all  so  render, 
and  this  is  also  the  meaning  of  the  corresponding  words  in 
Arabic  and  Syriac  (see  further  on  this  question  M^^Lean  and 
Shipley  in  EB.,  s.  v.  '  Bittern  ').  The  rendering  '  bittern '  (AV.) 
appears  to  have  no  authority  earlier  than  the  sixteenth  century. 

in  the  chapiters  thereof :  i.  e.  in  the  carved  tops  of  the 
pillars  (i  K.  vii.  16,  17,  &c.),  belonging  to  the  temples  or  palaces 
of  Nineveh,  and  pictured  as  now  prostrate  upon  the  ground. 

(their)  voice  shall  sing-  in  the  windows.  The  expression  is 
unnatural :  read  with  We.,  Now.,  Smith,  &c.,  the  little  owl  for 
'  (their)  voice  '  (did  for  bip), — one  of  the  three  species  of  owl 
mentioned  in  Lev.  xi.  17  f,  which  is  shown  by  Ps.  cii.  6  to  have 
been  accustomed  to  haunt  desert  places  or  ruins.  The  'little  owl' 
is  '  by  far  the  most  abundant  of  all  the  owls  of  Palestine,'  and  '  in 
the  tombs  or  on  the  ruins,  among  the  desolate  heaps  which  mark 
the  sites  of  ancient  Judah,  his  low,  wailing  note  is  sure  to  be 
heard  at  sunset'  (Tristram,  NHB.  194  f.).  Or  perhaps,  with 
Halevy,  as  the  owl  hardly  '  sings,'  the  voice  of  the  great  owl  >]"nr3' 
for  -n"i\C')  shall  be  in  the  windows,  of  the  raven  in  the  thresholds. 
The  'great  owl '  (Lev.  xi.  17),  also  called  the  'eagle-owl,'  is  like- 
wise abundant  in  ruins  (Is.  xxxiv.  11  Heb.  :  NHB.  193).  The 
'  windows'  are  of  course  those  of  the  now  uninhabited  and  neglected 
palaces  and  temples. 

desolation.  Read  with  LXX,  Ew.,  We.,  &c.,  the  raven 
(yr:  for  y>n)  :  and  see  Is.  xxxiv.  11.  The  raven  also  is  a  bird  that 
loves  desolate  places,  frequenting,  for  instance,  the  barren  cliffs 
and  shores  of  the  Dead  Sea  (Tristram,  NHB.  201). 

the  cedar  work.     With  which  the  walls  of  her  palaces  and 

K 


I30  ZEPHANIAH  2.  15— 3.  i.     Z 

work.  This  is  the  joyous  city  that  dwelt  carelessly,  that 
said  in  her  heart,  I  am,  and  there  is  none  else  beside  me: 
how  is  she  become  a  desolation,  a  place  for  beasts  to  lie 
down  in  !  every  one  that  passeth  by  her  shall  hiss,  and 
wag  his  hand. 

Woe  to  her  that  is  rebellious  and  polluted,  to  the 

temples  were  panelled  (cf.,  in  Jerusalem,  i  K.  vi.  9.  10,  &c.,  vii. 
3,  7)  :  this  will  now  be  laid  open  to  wind  and  rain.  The  Assyrian 
kings  often  speak  of  the  cedar  brought  by  them  from  Lebanon, 
Araanus,  &c.,  to  beautify  their  buildings  (cf.  p.  83  «.). 

15.  Close  of  the  description.  Such  will  then  be  the  once  proud 
and  careless  city, — a  desolation,  a  resort  of  wild  animals,  an  object 
of  derision  to  all  who  pass  by  her  site  ! 

joyous.  Or,  exTdtingf  (iii.  11).  The  word  used  suggests  the 
idea  of  exuberant  joy,  unrestrained  by  any  thought  of  responsi- 
bility or  care:  cf.  Is.  xxii.  2,  xxiii.  7,  xxxii.  13  ;  also  v.  14, 

I  am,  and  there  is  none  beside  me.  A  proud  expression  of 
Nineveh's  sense  of  her  unique  imperial  position.  The  same  words, 
as  also  the  preceding  ones,  from  *  that  dwelt  carelessly,'  are  re- 
peated in  Is.  xlvii.  8  with  reference  to  Babylon,  the  successor  of 
Nineveh  as  the  imperial  city  of  Western  Asia. 

how  ...  I  An  expression  of  amazement  at  such  a  tragic  turn 
of  fortune :  cf.  Jer.  1.  23,  li.  41. 

every  one  that  passeth  by  her  shall  hiss.  In  scorn  and 
hatred.  Cf.  with  the  entire  clause  i  K.  ix.  8,  Jer.  xix.  8  =  xlix. 
17  =  1.  13:  hiss,  also,  Ez.  xxvii.  36  and  elsewhere. 

and  shake  his  hand.  In  anger  and  aversion.  This  ex- 
pression does  not  occur  elsewhere  :  we  have  only  s/iake  the  head 
(viz.  in  derision),  Lam.  ii.  15,  Ps.  xxii.  7. 

On  the  fall  of  Nineveh  in  b.  c.  607,  and  subsequent  desolation 
of  its  site,  see  above,  pp.   10  f. 

iii.  1-7.  The  prophet  here  returns  to  Jerusalem.  He  describes 
afresh  the  sins  rampant  within  her,  especially  the  sins  of  her 
ruling  classes,  princes,  judges,  prophets,  and  priests  ;  and  blames 
her,  in  Yahweh's  name,  for  her  refusal  to  take  warning  from  the 
example  of  her  neighbours. 

1.  Ah  I  she  that  is  defiant  and  polluted,  the  oppressiucr  city  ! 
For  Ah !  see  on  Nah.  iii.  i. 

rebellious.  Better,  defiant.  Mdrdh  is  to  resist  contumaciously, 
and  is  nearly  always  used  of  an  obstinate  refusal  to  listen  to 
Yahweh's  will  (e.g.  Dt.  i,  26,  43  ;  Is.  i.  20  ;  Ps.  IxxviiL  8,  17,  40, 
56):  though  commonly  rendered  'rebel,'  'rebellious,'  it  thus 
corresponds  more  closely  to  *defy/  '  defiant.'      (To  '  rebel,'  both 


ZEPHANIAH  3.  2-4.     Z  131 

oppressing  city  !  She  obeyed  not  the  voice ;  she  received  2 
not  ^  correction  ;  she  trusted  not  in  the  Lord  ;  she  drew 
not  near  to  her  God.     Her  princes  in  the  midst  of  her  3 
are  roaring  lions ;  her  judges  are  evening  wolves ;  they 
^  leave  nothing  till  the  morrow.     Her  prophets  are  light  4 
*  Or,  instntction  ^  Or,  gnaw  not  the  bones  on  the  morrow 

politically  (2  K.  xxiv.  i),  and  religiously  (Ez.  ii.  3),  is  ntdrad: 
ma  rah  is  never  used  of  political  rebellion). 

pollnted,  viz.  by  sins  of  various  kinds.  The  word  is  a  rare 
and  late  one — in  Lam.  iv.  14,  Is.  lix.  3,  used  in  particular  of 
pollution  by  bloodshed. 

the  oppressing'  city.  Alluding  especially  to  the  oppressions 
and  extortions  practised  by  the  upper  classes  upon  their  less 
fortunate  neighbours  :  see,  for  instance,  Is.  i.  23,  v.  8-10,  23,  x. 
2,  Mic.  ii.  2,  iii.  1-3,  Jer.  vii.  6,  xxii.  3,  13.  Ez.  xxii.  29  shows, 
however,  that  the  people  generally  shared  the  same  faults, 

2.  Development  of  the  thought  of  Jerusalem's  *  defiance,'  v.  i : 
she  would  not  listen  to  Yahweh's  voice,  or  be  reformed,  but 
turned  persistently  from  Him. 

obeyed.     Lit.  (as  always)  hearkened  unto. 

the  voice :  i.  e.  the  voice  of  God  by  the  prophets  :  Jer.  vii.  23, 
xi.  4,  7,  and  often. 

received . . .  correction.  A  favourite  expression  of  Jeremiah's 
(Jer.  ii.  30,  v,  3,  xvii,  23,  xxxii.  33,  xxxv,  13)  :  compare  especially 
vii,  28  '  This  is  the  nation  that  hath  not  hearkened  unto  the  voice  of 
Yahweh  their  God,  nor  received  correction.^  'Instruction'  (marg.) 
means  moral  education  :  cf.  Ps.  1.  17  ;  Prov,  i.  8,  xii.  r,  xiii.  r,  18,  &c. 

she  trusted  not,  &c.  Distrusted  His  promises,  disbelieved 
in  His  power  to  help  or  save  (cf.  i.  12) ;  and  consequently,  hoping 
for  nothing  from  Him,  drew  not  near  to  Him. 

3.  The  sins  of  the  leading  classes  particularized  in  detail.  Like 
the  prophets  generally  (e.  g.  Am.  vi.  i  ;  Is,  i.  23,  iii,  14  ;  Mic, 
iii.  I,  9),  it  is  especially  the  official  and  responsible  classes  whose 
sins  and  neglect  of  duty  Zephaniah  denounces. 

Hor  princes.  As  in  i.  8  (cf  Is.  i.  23  ;  Ez.  xxii.  27),  the 
nobles,  in  whose  hands  lay  the  judicial  and  governing  power. 

roaring*  lions.  Ready  at  any  moment  to  seize  and  rend  the 
prey  :  cf.  Prov,  xxviii,  15,  Ez,  xxii,  25, 

evening"  wolves.     So  Hab.  i.  8,  where  see  the  note. 
The  extortion  of  superior  officials,  the  corruption  of  justice,  and 
judicial  murders,  are  crying  vices  in  Oriental  countries  ;  and  the 
denunciations  of  the  prophets  show  that  they  were  only  too  pre- 
valent in  ancient  Israel  as  well. 

leave  nothing  till  the  morning :    so  voracious  are  they. 

K    2 


132  ZEPHANIAH  3.  5.     Z. 

and  treacherous  persons :  her  priests  have  profaned  the 

3  sanctuary,  they  have  done  violence  to  the  law.      The 

Lord  in  the  midst  of  her  is  righteous;  he  will  not  do 

iniquity;  » every  morning  doth  he  bring  his  judgement 

*  Heb.  monnng  by  morning. 

But  the  rendering  'leave'  is  very  doubtful,  depending  upon  a 
questionable  combination  with  an  Arabic  and  Aramaic  verb.  That 
of  the  marg.  (which  has  the  support  of  Nu.  xxiv.  8,  Ez.  xxiii.  34) 
implies  that  all  is  devoured  voraciously  over«night ;  though  the 
words  might  also  be  rendered,  *  her  judges  are  evening  wolves, 
(which)  gnawed  not  bones  in  the  morning,'  and  so  were  doubly 
hungry  and  ferocious  in  the  (following)  evening. 
T  .  li^ht.  I.  e.,  as  often  in  Old  English  (e.  g.  Jud.  ix.  4),  marked  by 
levity^  thoughtless^  frivolous.  But  pohez  means  rather  unrestrained, 
feckless, — in  Jud.  ix.  4  (see  Moore)  reckless  in  action,  here  reckless 
in  assertion,  boastful :  the  prophets  referred  to  being  men  eager 
for  notoriety,  who,  '  instead  of  being  humble  declarers  of  the  will 
of  God,  sought  to  give  utterance  to  their  own  ideas'  (Hitz.).  Cf. 
Jer.  xxiii.  32,  where  the  cognate  subst.  recklessness  (RV.  vain 
boasting)  is  also  used  of  the  prophets.  The  delusive  promises  of 
the '  false  prophets,' who  sought  by  making  them  to  gain  popularity, 
are  often  alluded  to  :  see  e.g.  Mic.  iii.  11 ;  Jer.  xiv.  13 f.,  xxiii.  16  f.. 
26 f.,  xxvii.  g{.,  16,  xxviii.  2  flf. 

treacherous.  Or.  faithless,  viz.  against  God,  by  giving  out 
their  own  imaginations  as  revelations  from  Him  (Hitz.,  Keil). 

have  profaned  that  which  is  holy  (not  'the  sanctuary'), 
they  have  done  violence  to  the  law.  Ez.  xxii.  26  is  an  ex- 
planatory parallel  :  '  Her  priests  have  done  violence  to  my  law,  and 
have  profaned  mine  holy  things ;  they  have  put  no  difTerence 
between  the  holy  and  the  common  [cf.  xHv.  23,  Lev.  x.  10,  xx. 
25],  neither  have  they  caused  men  to  discern  between  the  un- 
clean and  the  clean  [Lev.  xi],  and  they  have  hid  their  eyes  from 
my  sabbaths,  and  I  am  profaned  in  their  midst.'  Cf.  also  Jer.  ii.  8, 
V,  31  [RVm.].  With  vv.  4,  5  cf.  especially  Ez.  xxii.  25-28,  where 
rulers  [so  read  for  'prophets'  in  v.  25,  with  LXX,  and  all 
moderns],  priests,  princes,  and  prophets  are  denounced  succes- 
sively, and  the  language  is  often  remarkably  similar  to  that  used 
here.     '  Law '  is  here,  as  always,  properly  direction  (Hnb.  i.  4). 

S.  And  they  do  all  this,  undeterred  by  the  fact  that  Yahweh  is  in 
their  midst,  giving  daily  evidence  of  the  righteousness  of  His  rule. 

he  doeth  no  tmrigrhteousness  :  cf.  Dt.  xxxii.  4. 

morning*  by  morningr.  For  the  thought  of  morning  as  the 
time  of  judgement,  cf.  Jer.  xxi.  12,  Ps.  ci.  8.  The  Hebrew  idiom  'd. 
marg.  ;  and  see  G.-K.  §  123*^),  as  Ex,  xvi.  21,  Is,  1.  4,  and  elsewhere. 


ZEPHANIAH  3.  6,  7.     Z  133 

to  light,  he  faileth  not;  but  the  unjust  knoweth  no  shame. 

I  have  cut  off  nations,  their  ''  battlements  are  desolate ;  6 

I  have  made  their  streets  waste^  that  none  passeth  by : 

their  cities  are  destroyed^  so  that  there  is  no  man,  that 

there  is  none  inhabitant.     I  said,  Surely  thou  wilt  fear  7 

me,  thou  wilt  receive  ^correction;  so  her  dwelling  should 

not  be  cut  off,  *^  according  to  all  that  I  have  appointed 

concerning  her :   but  they  rose  early  and  corrupted  all 

*  Or,  corner  towers  ^  Or,  instructton 

'^  Or,  howsoever  I  punished  her 

he  toringreth  his  judgement  to  lijfht.  In  so  far  as,  to  those 
who  will  see  it,  both  the  daily  life  of  individuals  and  the  history 
of  nations  [v.  6)  afford  examples  of  the  righteous  being  rewarded, 
and  the  wicked  punished.  Cf.  Hos.  vi.  5  (reading  as  RVm.) ;  also 
Ps.  xxxvii.  6. 

he  faileth  not.  Or  better,  perhaps,  it  (his  judgement) 
faileth  not.     So  Keil,  Nowack. 

hut  the  unrighteous  knoweth  no  shame.  Is  unmoved  by 
the  evidences  of  Yahweh's  righteousness,  and  continues,  without 
any  sense  of  shame,  in  his  course  of  wrong-doing. 

6.  Yahweh  is  now  introduced  abruptly  as  speaking,  and  remind- 
ing Israel  of  the  evidences  of  His  righteousness  afforded  by  history. 

battlements.     See  on  i.  16. 

so  that  none  passeth  through :  Jer.  ix.  10,  12  ;  £z.  xiv.  13. 

so  that  there  is  no  man:  Is.  vi.  11  ;  Jer.  xxxii.  43,  xxxiii. 
10,  12. 

that  there  is  no  inhabitant.  As  ii.  5,  Is.  v.  9,  vi.  11,  and 
eight  times  in  Jeremiah. 

*7.  Yahweh  desired  and  hoped  that  Israel  would  take  warning 
by  such  examples,  but  was  disappointed  :  on  the  contrary,  Israel 
the  more  strenuously  corrupted  their  doings. 

Z  said:  i.  e.,  as  frequently  ^e.  g.  Is.  Ixiii.  8),  I  said  mentally, 
I  thought. 

(according  to)  all,  &c.  The  ellipse  is  greater  than  is  legiti 
mate ;  nor  does  the  sense  obtained  agree  well  with  '  so  her 
dwelHng,'  &c.  There  is  little  doubt  but  that  we  should  read,  by 
a  very  slight  change  in  one  word,  with  LXX,  We.,  Now.,  &c. 
(after  'correction  '),  and  nothing  that  I  have  enjoined  her  will  Le 
cut  off {^=  fade)  from  her  sight,  i.e.  she  will  continually  keep  My 
commandments  before  her  (cf.  Ps.  xviii.  22). 

but.  In  the  Heb.  a  strong  adversative,  but  in  fact,  intro- 
ducing the  reality,  as  opposed  to  what  has  been  wrongly  expected 


134  ZEPHANIAH  3.  8, 9.     ZA 

8  their  doings.  Therefore  wait  ye  for  me,  saith  the  Lord, 
until  the  day  that  I  rise  up  to  the  prey :  for  my  ^determina- 
tion  is  to  gather  the  nations,  that  I  may  assemble  the 
kingdoms,  to  pour  upon  them  mine  indignation,  even  all 
my  fierce  anger ;  for  all  the  earth  shall  be  devoured  with 

^  the  fire  of  my  jealousy.     [A]  For  then  will  I  turn  to  the 

^  Heb.  judgement. 

or  imagined.  Exactly  so  Ps.  xxxi.  22^,  Jer.  iii.  20  (RV. '  surely '), 
Is.  xlix.  4^  (each  time  after  /  said  =  I  thought),  liii.  4  (RV.  'surely'). 
rose  early  and  corrupted:  i.  e,  corrupted  actively  and 
strenuously.  This  fig.  sense  of  *  rose  up  '  is  otherwise  found  only 
in  Jer.,  viz.  vii.  13,  25,  xi.  7,  xxv.  3,  4,  &c.  (in  all  eleven  times), 
and  2  Ch.  xxxvi.  15  (a  reminiscence  from  Jeremiah). 

8-13.  Let  the  faithful  in  Jerusalem,  then,  wait  patiently,  until 
the  approaching  judgement  is  completed  (v.  8),  when  the  '  remnant 
of  Israel,'  freed  from  all  unworthy  members,  will  cleave  to  God  in 
sincerity  of  heart,  and  dwell  in  safety  upon  their  own  land. 

8.  wait  ye  (Is.  viii.  17,  Ixiv.  4)  for  me,  .  .  .  for  the  day 
when  I,  &c.  The  faithful  in  Israel  are  addressed,  as  in  ii.  3  : 
they  are  to  wait  trustfully  for  the  day  when  Yahweh's  judgement 
upon  the  nations  (i.  2  f.)  is  accomplished ;  for  that  judgement  will 
sweep  away  the  sinners  and  oppressors  (v.  3)  in  Israel  as  well  as 
in  other  nations,  and  so  will  issue  in  their  own  deliverance. 

to  the  prey  :  i.  e.  for  the  destruction  of  the  nations.  LXX, 
Syr.  read  as  a  witness  {'ed  for  'ad),  viz.  against  the  nations  (not 
as  We.,  Now.);  so  Smith,  Marti.  Cf.  for  the  figure  Mic.  i.  2; 
Mai.  iii.  5.  Halevy  would  read,  'until  the  day  that  I  rise  up  to  set 
in  order  my  judgement,  to  gather  the  nations,'  &c.  (py>  for  '3  ivb). 
to  gather,  &c.  The  picture  is  that  of  the  nations  assembled 
for  judgement  :  cf.  Jer.  xxv.  31,  33,  Is.  Ixvi.  16,  Ez.  xxxviii- 
xxxix,  Joel  iii.  11-16.  Read  then,  to  assemble,  &c.  (pp7  for  '^^pb). 
for  all  the  earth,  &c.      Repeated  from  i.  18. 

9-10.  The  peoples  will  then  unite  harmoniously  in  the  service 
of  Yahweh.  The  connexion  with  vv.  1-8  must  be  admitted  to  be 
very  imperfect,  (i)  The  terms  of  v.  8  imply  not  purification,  but 
destruction  :  if,  however,  all  the  nations  are  destroyed,  how  can 
any  remain  to  be  converted  ?  (2)  What  does  '  For  '  in  v.  9  give 
a  reason  for?  It  might  give  a  reason  for  God's  purpose  to  purge 
or  renovate  the  nations  :  but  not  for  His  purpose  to  destroy  them 
{v.  8).  Can  it,  then,  give  a  reason  for  '  wait  ye,'  addressed  to  the 
pious  in  Israel,  in  v.  8  (so  Keil)  ?  It  can  only  do  this,  if  the 
conversion  of  the  Gentiles  anticipated  in  v.  9  be  assumed  to 
involve  the  destruction  of  evil-doers  not  only  in  the  nations  at 


ZEPHANIAH  3.  lo.     A  135 

peoples  a  pure  ^  language,  that  they  may  all  call  upon 
the  name  of  the  Lord,  to  serve  him  with  one  ^  consent. 
From  beyond  the  rivers  of  Ethiopia  cmy  suppliants,  even  10 

»  Heb.  I$p.  ^  Heb.  shoulder. 

'^  Or,  shall  they  bring  my  suppliants^  even  the  daughter  of  my  dis- 
persed, for  an  offering  unto  me 

large  {v.  8),  but  also  in  Israel  itself  (where  they  afflict  and  oppress 
the  righteous,  v.  3)  :  yet  if  these  links  in  the  argument  had  been 
in  the  prophet's  mind,  would  they  not  naturally  have  been 
expressed  by  him?  Either,  \i  w.  9-10  are  really  Zephaniah's,  the 
connexion  of  thought  is  imperfect,  and  we  have,  perhaps,  his 
discourse  in  a  condensed  form,  with  links  in  the  argument  omitted ; 
or  the  verses  are  an  insertion  made  by  a  later  hand. 

9.  turn.     Cf.  i  S.  x.  9. 

a  pure  lip.  '  Lip '  may  in  Heb.  stand  for  '  language  '  (see 
e.g.  Gen.  xi.  i  RVm.,  Is.  xix.  18  Heb.) ;  but  it  is  better  to  take  it 
here  in  its  literal  sense.  The  *  lips '  of  the  nations  are  unclean, 
either  from  their  general  sinfulness  (Is.  vi.  5,  cf.  7\  or,  more 
particularly,  from  their  taking  the  names  of  false  gods  upon 
them  (Hos.  ii.  19,  Ps.  xvi.  4). 

with  one  consent.  Heb.  with  one  shoulder.  The  metaphor 
does  not  occur  elsewhere  in  the  O.  T.,  but  is  found  in  Syriac. 

10.  Ethiopia  is  again,  as  in  ii.  12,  taken  as  a  type  of  a  distant 
nation.  The  verse  has,  however,  been  very  differently  under- 
stood, the  Heb.  being  in  parts  uncertain  or  ambiguous,  (i)  RV. 
Here  '  daughter  of  my  dispersed  '  is  taken  as  a  poetical  expression, 
formed  on  the  analogy  of  the  '  daughter  of  Jerusalem,'  v.  14, 
'daughter  of  Babylon,'  Ps.  cxxxvii.  8,  &c.  (meaning  the  community 
or  people  of  Zion,  Babylon,  &c.),  and  signifying  the  community  of 
scattered  Israelites  ;  and  the  meaning  is  that  the  dispersed  people 
of  God  would  be  brought  back  from  their  most  distant  places  of 
banishment  (cf.  Is,  xi.  11,  xxvii.  13,  «&c.),  and  again  bring  Him 
offerings  in  Jerusalem.  (2)  RVm.  The  meaning  of  this  is  that 
the  Gentiles  would  themselves  bring  back  the  dispersed  Jews  as 
an  oflfering  to  Yahweh :  for  the  thought  in  this  case,  cf.  Is.  Ixvi.  20. 
As  Davidson,  however,  remarks,  the  expression  'suppliants' 
seems  then  not  very  natural.  (3)  The  word  following  '  daughter 
of  in  the  expressions  mentioned  under  (i)  is,  however,  elsewhere 
always, — or  (see  Mic.  iv.  5)  nearly  always, — the  name  of  a 
people  ;  the  word  rendered  dispersed  is  a  peculiar  one,  which 
does  not  occur  elsewhere  ;  and  hence  Ewald  conjectured  '  the 
daughter  of  Put^  (cis  for  -i^'E),  the  African  people  mentioned  in 
Nah.  iii.  9  in  parallelism  with  Kush  (Ethiopia'  ;  the  verse  would 
then  describe  the  homage  of  the  heathen,  and  be  parallel  in 
thought  to  Is.  xviii.  7  (cf.  also  Is.  xlv,  14  ;  Ps.  Ixxii.  10),     There 


136  ZEPHANIAH  3.  n.     AZ 

the  daughter  of  my  dispersed,  shall  bring  mine  offering. 
[Zj  In  that  day  shalt  thou  not  be  ashamed  for  all  thy 
doings,  wherein  thou  hast  transgressed  against  me :  for 
then  I  will  take  away  out  of  the  midst  of  thee  ^thy 
^  Or,  them  that  exult  in  thy  majesty 

is  in  the  context  no  mention  or  thought  of  the  restoration  of  the 
Jews,  so  that  this  last  sense  is  decidedly  the  most  appropriate  ; 
but  it  must  remain  an  open  question  whether  the  subject,  '  my 
suppliants  (also  a  doubtful  word,  not  found  elsewhere),  the 
daughter  of  Put,'  expressing  the  heathen  nations,  really  represents 
the  original  text  of  the  passage. 

the  rivers  of  KtMopia.  So  Is.  xviii.  i.  The  Hebrews  may- 
have  heard  of  the  Blue  Nile  and  the  'Atbara,  which  join  the  main 
stream  from  the  S.E.  at  about  15^  and  18^  N.,  respectively. 

bringf.  The  word  used  means  to  conduct,  lead  up ;  and 
implies  that  the  offering  (or  [collectively]  ofierings)  was  led  or 
brongJit  tip  in  some  state,  accompanied  by  a  procession  :  cf.  ^like- 
wise of  gifts  or  offerings)  Ps.  Ixviii.  29,  Ixxvi.  11  ;  Is.  xviii.  7. 

offering.     Or,  present,  as  token  of  allegiance  (i  S.  x.  27). 
11-13.  Then  the  purified  remnant  of  Israel  will  cleave  faith- 
fully to  its  God,  and  trusting  in  Him   will  dwell  unmolested  in 
their  own  land.     The   picture   is   in    designed   contrast  with  the 
corrupt  Jerusalem  of  the  present,  vv.  1-7. 

11.  In  tliatclay:  i.e.  in  the  general  period  spoken  of  in  the 
context  (Is.  vii.  18,  20,  and  often)  ;  here  of  the  period  after  the 
judgement  (v.  8;,  when  the  prophet  pictures  the  kingdom  of  God 
established  in  Judah, 

not  "be  ashamed,  &c.  Because  viz.  (Keil)  such  doings  no 
longer  occur,  or  (Ew.,  Dav.)  because  they  are  so  completely  passed 
away  as  to  be  no  longer  remembered.  Or  Nowack,  Marti),  in 
accordance  with  a  common  use  of  the  word,  '  shalt  thou  not  be 
put  to  shame  on  account  of  all  thy  doings,' — the  actual  offenders 
{vv.  3,  7  end)  having  been  all  cut  off  {v.  11^  'for  then  I  will  take 
away,'  &c.). 

for  then,  &c.  Zephaniah  adopts  here  (cf.  ii.  7,  9)  Isaiah's 
characteristic  doctrine  of  the  purification  of  Judah  by  a  judgement, 
sweeping  away  its  unworthy  members,  and  leaving  only  a  righteous 
'  remnant '  to  escape,  who  will  then  be  the  founders  of  a  new 
community,  to  be  established  in  the  future,  endowed  with  the 
true,  or  ideal,  perfections  of  the  Israel  of  God  (Is.  i.  25-27,  iv.  3, 
X.  22,  xi.  II,  16,  xxviii.  5,  xxxvii.  22)'. 

^  See  more  fully  the  writer's  Isaiah,  his  Life  and  Times  (in  the 
'  Men  of  the  Bible '  series),  pp.  21  f.,  26,  no. 


ZEFHANIAH  3.  1-',  13.     Z  ^.g 

proudly  exulting  ones,  and  thou  shalt  no  more  be 
haughty  in  my  holy  mountain.  But  I  will  leave  in  the  n 
midst  of  thee  an  afflicted  and  poor  people,  and  they  shall 
trust  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.  The  remnant  of  Israel  13 
shall  not  do  iniquity,  nor  speak  lies ;  neither  shall  a 
deceitful  tongue  be  found  in  their  mouth  :  for  they  shall 
feed  and  lie  down,  and  none  shall  make  them  afraid. 

thy  proudly  extating-  ones.  The  upper  classes  of  Judah, 
confident  in  themselves,  proud  and  elated.  The  same  expression 
is  used  in  Is.  xiii.  3  of  Yahweh's  warriors,  the  Medes,  elated  with 
martial  pride. 

12.  leave.  Heb.  cause  to  remaiti  over  (cognate  with  'remnant,' 
V.  13). 

an  afflicted  and  poor  people.  Only  these  survive  the  judge- 
ment, to  form  the  nucleus  of  the  worthier  community  of  the  future. 
The  '  remnant '  is  characterized  by  the  qualities  usually  found  in 
the  pious  servants  of  Yahweh.  The  godly  men  of  Israel  were 
found,  as  a  rule,  not  among  the  nobles  or  the  wealthy,  who  too 
often  abused  their  position  to  defraud  or  oppress  these  lower  in  the 
social  scale  than  themselves  (see  e.  g.  Ps,  x.  2,  9),  but  among 
those  who  are  described  as  the  'poor,'  the  'needy,'  or  the 
'  afflicted '\  It  is  these,  accordingly,  who  enjoy  Yahweh's  favour 
and  regard  :  cf.,  for  instance,  Ps.  xviii.  27,  where  He  is  spoken 
of  as  saving  the  'afflicted  people,'  but  as  abasing  the  'haughty 
eyes';  and  such  passages  as  Is.  xiv.  30,  32,  xxv,  4,  xxix.  19  ;  Ps. 
xii.  5,  XXXV.  10. 

trust.     Properly,  take  refuge  in:  see  on  Nah.  i.  7. 

13.  The  remnant  of  Israel.  See  on  t/.  11  ;  and  cf.  ii.  7,  9, 
Mic.  ii.  12,  v.  7,  8. 

not  do  unrighteousness.     As  v.  5. 

nor  speak  lies,  &c.  '  They  will  not  deceive,  or  take  advan- 
tage of  one  another,  or  embitter  one  another's  life,  but  will  lead 
together  an  idyllic  existence  of  peace  and  tranquillity,  none 
harming  or  disturbing  another'  Hitz.).  Contrast  v.  3,  and  the 
picture  in  Jer.  ix.  3-5. 

feed,  &c.  Like  a  flock,  grazing  and  lying  down  in  complete 
security.     For  '  feed  '  and  '  lie  down  '  (fig.)  cf.  Is.  xiv.  30,  Mic.  vii. 

^  Or,  the  '  humbled.'  The  word  is  cognate  to  that  rendered 
'humble'  in  ii.  3;  but,  while  that  denotes  those  who  voluntarily 
humble  themselves  under  the  hand  of  God,  this  denotes  those  who 
are  humbled  by  human  oppression,  or  other  adversity.  Cf.  on 
Ilab.  iii.  14;  and  see,  further,  the  art.  'Poor  *  in  DB, 


'^^  ZEPHANIAH  3.  14-16.     Z 

i^  Sing,  O  daughter  of  Zion;  shout,  O  Israel;  be  glad  and 

15  rejoice  with  all  the  heart,  O  daughter  of  Jerusalem.  The 
Lord  hath  taken  away  thy  judgements,  he  hath  cast  out 
thine  enemy:  the  king  of  Israel,  even  the  Lord,  is  in  the 

16  midst  of  thee :  thou  shalt  not  ^fear  evil  any  more.     In 

*  Another  reading  is,  see. 

14;  for  'and  none  shall  make  them  afraid' — a  standing  phrase 
to  describe  a  condition  of  unmolested  security — Is.  xvii.  2,  Mic. 
iv.  4,  Job  xi,  19, 

14-20.  Conclusion.  In  vv.  14-17  the  prophet,  with  his  eye 
fixed  on  this  blissful  future,  in  jubilant  tones  bids  the  people 
rejoice  in  the  restoration  of  Yahweh's  favourable  presence  in 
their  midst;  in  vv.  18-20  Yahweh  speaks,  and  promises  that 
those  now  in  exile  will  be  brought  back,  and  assume  an  honour- 
able position  among  the  nations  of  the  earth. 

14.  Sing-.  As  Is.  xlix.  13,  liv.  i.  More  exactly,  S,iag  out 
(thy  joy)  :  see  Cheyne,  The  Psalms  (1888),  on  Ps.  v.  12,  or  the 
writer's  Parallel  Psalter,  p.  455. 

O  daugfliter  of  Zion.  '  Daughter, '  in  such  expressions,  is 
a  poetical  personification  of  the  population  or  community  :  it  is 
particularly  used  where  it  is  desired  to  portray  the  people  as 
feeling  or  expressing  some  keen  or  vivid  emotion  :  see  e.  g.  Is.  x. 
30,  xxxvii.  32  ;  Jer.  vi.  26  ;  Zech.  ii.  10,  ix.  9. 

15.  hath  taken  away  . .  .  hath  cast  out.  '  Prophetic '  perfects: 
the  prophet  transports  himself  in  imagination  into  the  time  when 
the  various  judgements  that  have  fallen  upon  Israel  during  her 
history  are  all  past,  and  there  is  no  longer  any  enemy  to 
vex  her. 

thy  judgements.  We.,  Now.,  Marti,  with  a  change  of 
points,  would  render  thine  opponents  (viz.  in  judgement:  see  Job 
ix.  15  Heb.  [G.-K.  §  55^]).  But  it  is  perhaps  doubtful  whether 
a  term  having  a  forensic  sense  is  suitable  here  to  the  context  (Is. 
liv.  17  is  different). 

cast  out.     Rather,   cleared  away :  see  Lex.  815^ 

the  king'  of  Israel.  So  Is.  xliv.  6;  cf.  the  king  0/  Jacob, 
xli.  21. 

in  the  midst  of  thee.  Protecting  Israel;  it  being  at  the 
same  time  implied  that  Israel  is  worthy  of  His  presence  in  its 
midst.  Cf.  Nu.  xi.  20,  xiv.  14  ;  Is.  xii.  6 ;  Jer.  xiv.  9  ;  Joel  ii,  27  : 
also  Ez.  xlviii.  35. 

fear.  Marg.  see,  i.  e.  experience ;  cf.  Jer.  v.  la,  and  especially 
Ps.  xc.  15.  The  two  words  differ  in  the  Heb.  very  slightly,  and 
are  confused  elsewhere  (see  Jer.  xvii.  8  RV.).  LXX,  Pesh., 
express  see,  which  is  preferred  generally  by  moderns. 


ZEPHANIAH  3.  17,  18.     Z  A  139 

that  day  it  shall  be  said  to  Jerusalem,  Fear  thou  not:  ^O 
Zion,  let  not  thine  hands  be  slack.    The  Lord  thy  God  17 
is  in  the  midst  of  thee,  a  mighty  one  who  will  save :  he 
will  rejoice  over  thee  with  joy,  he  will  ^  rest  in  his  love, 
he  will  joy  over  thee  with  singing.     [A]  cj  will  gather  18 
them  that  ^  sorrow  for  the  solemn  assembly,  who  were  of 

*  Or,  and  to  Zion  ^  Heb.  be  silent 

"  Or,  lliey  have  been  sorrowful  for  the  solemn  assembly  which  I 
took  away  front  thee,  for  the  lifting  up  of  reproach  against  her 
^  Or,  are  removed  from 

16.  Pear  thou  not.  As  Is.  xli.  10,  13,  14,  and  often.  The 
marg.  (  =  AV.)  is  improbable,  and  maj^  be  neglected. 

be  slack.  Properly,  hang  down,  in  want  of  energy,  or  terror. 
The  expression  is  a  common  one  :  see  e.  g.  Is.  xiii.  7  ;  2  S.  iv.  i, 
xvii.  2  ;  and  (with  let  not,  as  here)  2  Ch.  xv.  7. 

17.  The  verse  repeats  and  expands  the  thought  o(v.  15.  Yahweh 
is  not  only  in  Israel's  midst :  He  is  there  also  with  His  might,  as 
its  defender,  and  His  love  to  it  is  restored. 

a  mighty  one :  i.  e.  a  warrior  (see  on  Nah.  ii.  3)  ;  applied  to 
Yahweh,  as  Jer.  xx.  11,  and  especially  Is.  xlii.  13. 

rejoice.  A  strong  word,  implying  full  and  exuberant  joy  :  of 
Yahweh,  as  Dt.  xxviii.  63,  xxx.  9;  Jer.  xxxii.  41;  Is.  Ixii.  5. 
Ixv.  19. 

be  silent  in  his  love.  The  expression  is  interpreted  to 
mean  a  'silent  ecstasy'  of  love;  but  such  an  idea  agrees  badly 
with  the  words  following  ("with  ringing  cries'  :  see  Cheyne  on 
Ps.  v.  12  ;  or  the  writer's  Parallel  Psalter,  p.  455).  Buhl  has  sug- 
gest- d  a'siight  but  very  plausible  emendation,  '  He  will  renew  His 

^^     -20.  Promise  of  restoration  to  those  in  exile. 

18.  The  text  must  be  rendered,  them  that  sorrow  (Lam.  i.  4) 
away  from ;  or  (RVm.)  them  that  are  removed  (2  S.  xx.  13) 
from :  in  either  case  the  allusion  being  to  those  exiled  in  foreign 
lands. 

the  solemn  assembly.  Heb.  moed,  meaning  properly 
a  stated  place  or  time,  and  applied  in  particular  to  the  fixed  sacred 
seasons  of  the  Jewish  year  :  see  especially  Lev.  xxiii,  which  is 
a  calendar  of  such  sacred  seasons  (RV.  set  feasts ;  RVm.  appointed 
seasons)  :  for  other  references,  see  Hos.  ii.  11  ;  Is.  i.  14,  xxxiii.  20 
(EVV.   solemnities) ;    Ez.   xliv.  24.     In  RV.  the  word  is  usually 

*  ^'vy  for  tthrr  :  the  Piel  con  jug.  with  3  (lit.  make  newness,  or  act 
newly,  with),  as  Is.  xxii.  4,  Gen.  xliv.  12. 


140  ZEPHANIAH  3.  ly,  20.     A 

thee:  ^to  tvhom  the  burden  upon  ^her  was  a  reproach. 

39  Behold,  at  that  time  I  will  deal  with  all  them  that  afflict 
thee :  and  I  will  save  her  that  halteth,  and  gather  her 
that  was  driven  away;  and  I  will  make  them  a  praise  and 

20  a  name,  whose  shame  hath  been  in  all  the  earth.     At 

^  Or,  which  hast  borne  the  burden  of  reproach 
*•  According  to  some  ancient  authorities,  thee. 

rendered  in  Lev.,  Nu.,  Chr.,  set  feast,  in  the  prophets  appointed  feast 
or  solemn  assembly, — '  solemn  '  in  this  expression  having  not  its 
mode^'n  sense,  but  the  force  of  the  Lat.  solemnis,  i.  e.  stated,  fixed  ^. 

to  whom  the  burden  upon  her  was  a  reproach.  Or,  better, 
upon  whom  [fem.,  referring  to  thee,  i.  e.  Jerusalem]  reproach  was 
a  hurden,  i.  e.  upon  whom  there  lay  the  heavy  reproach  of  national 
disaster,  and  the  exile  of  her  children.  RVm.  is  just  a  paraphrase 
of  this  rendering.  For  'reproach,*  cf.  Isa.  liv.  4  'the  reproach  of 
widowhood'  (i.e.  of  the  time  of  exiled;  Ez.  xxxvi.  15  (with 
•bear');  Ps.  xliv.  13,  Ixxix.  4.  The  first  RVm.  on  this  verse 
may  be  disregarded.  The  Heb.  of  the  verse  is  crabbed  and 
strange  ;  and,  though  it  is  translatable,  it  can  hardly  be  through- 
out in  its  original  form.  Halevy  would  read,  '  I  will  gather  them 
that  are  removed  from  the  solemn  assembly,  they  shall  be  with 
thee  (-{or  for  'po),  that  thou  bear  not  reproach  because  of  them ' 
{urfrp  T|nK^'p  for  rf':^  n^^ipp).  This  is  plausible,  though  whether 
it  is  the  original  text  is  more  than  we  can  say. 

19.  deal  with.  Cf.  in  the  Heb.  Ez.  xx.  44,  Ps.  cix.  21  (in 
a  good  sense) ;  and  in  a  bad  sense,  as  here,  Ez.  xxii.  14  '.  For 
the  thought,  cf.  Is.  li.  23. 

that  afSict  thee:  i.  e.  the  heathen  nations,  Is.  Ix.  14.     n 

her  that  halteth,  &c.  The  people  are  spoken  of  under 
the  figure  of  a  flock,  of  which  some  are  lame,  and  some  have  '°'en 
driven  away  :  cf.  Mic.  iv.  6,  7,  Ez.  xxxiv.  4,  16.  Zech.  xi.  16." 

a  praise  and  a  name.     Cf.  Dt.  xxvi.  19  RVm. 

whose  shame,  &c.  Viz.  on  account  of  their  exile  (cf.  Ez. 
xxxvi.  15).  But  the  clause  is  (in  the  Heb.)  attached  very 
awkwardly  to  the  preceding  one  ;  and  this  rendering  (as  Dav. 
remarks)  lays  an  unnatural  emphasis  upon  the  pron.  them,  which 

^  *Set  (or  'appointed')  feast,'  the  English  reader  should  be 
aware,  means  in  EVV.  something  quite  different  from  'feast.' 
'  Feast '  {hag)  denotes  a  pilgrimage,  and  there  were  only  three  of 
these  in  the  Jewish  year  (Ex.  xxiii.  14-17)  :  'set  feast'  {md'id)  is 
a  wider  term,  and  denotes  any  sacred  season  (Levi  xxiii). 

^  Where  of  course  tjpSn  is  for  T[ri«  :    see  Lex.  pp.  85^',  86*. 


ZEPHANIAH  3.  20.     A  141 

that  time  will  I  bring  you  in,  and  at  that  time  will  I 
gather  you  :  for  I  will  make  you  a  name  and  a  praise 
among  all  the  peoples  of  the  earth,  when  I  bring  again 
your  captivity  before  your  eyes,  saith  the  Lord. 

(in  the  Heb.)  instead  of  being  the  antecedent  to  whose^  refers  far 
more  naturally  back  to  the  persons  mentioned  before.  It  is  very 
probable  that  the  last  word  in  the  Heb.  ('their  shame')  is  not 
original ;  and  that  we  should  read  simply  *  and  I  will  make  them 
a  praise  and  a  name  in  all  the  earth '  :  cf.  v.  20  '  for  I  will  make 
you,'  &c.  Or  (Gratz,  Halevy)  nnn  may  have  fallen  out:  'and 
I  will  make  them  a  praise  and  a  name  in  all  the  earth  in  nturtifor 
their  shame '  :  cf.  Is,  Ixi.  7.  The  two  Heb.  words,  however,  drag 
a  little,  in  this  case,  at  the  end  of  the  verse. 

20.  and  at  that  time  will  I  gather  you.  A  clause  such  as 
this  suits  the  context  excellently  ;  but  it  cannot  by  any  possibility 
be  extracted  from  the  existing  Heb.  text^  (which  is,  in  fact, 
untranslatable). 

I  will  make  you,  &c.     Cf.  Jer.  xxxiii.  9. 

when  I  turn  your  captivity.     As  ii.  7. 

before  your  eyes:  i.  e.  so  that  you  will  witness  and  experience 
it  yourselves  ;  it  will  not  be  delayed  till  only  your  children  can 
take  part  in  it. 

*  It  implies  □D^,^«  ynps  N'nn  n»a"\  for  can**  ^inp  nyii. 


\ 


HAGGAI 

INTRODUCTION 

AND 

REVISED  VERSION  WITH  ANNOTATIONS 


HAGGAI 


INTRODUCTION 
Historical  CIRCUMSTANCES  of  Haggai's  time;  and 

THE   occasion   AND  CONTENTS   OF  HIS   PROPHECY. 

The  prophecies  of  Haggai  are  dated  in  the  second  year 
of  Darius  Hystaspis  (B.C.  520),  seventeen  years  after  the 
return  of  the  Jews  from  Babylonia  in  the  first  year  of 
Cyrus  (b.  c.  537).  Not,  of  course,  that  the  whole  body 
of  exiles  availed  themselves  of  the  permission  granted 
by  the  edict  of  Cyrus  (Ezr.  i.  1-4)  and  returned  to  the 
home  of  their  fathers.  Many  had,  no  doubt,  followed  the 
advice  given  by  Jeremiah  (Jer.  xxix.  5-7)  to  the  first 
band  of  exiles,  who  had  gone  into  captivity  with  Jehoiachin 
in  597 :  they  had  built  houses,  planted  gardens,  and  brought 
up  families  in  Babylonia ;  ihey  and  their  children  had  in 
many  cases  grown  accustomed  to  their  new  home,  and 
not  even  the  inspiring  utterances  of  the  Second  Isaiah 
had  been  sufficient  to  induce  them  to  leave  it.  Neverthe- 
less, according  to  the  list  in  Ezr.  ii.  1-70  (  =  Neh.  vii. 
6-69,  with  textual  variations),  42,360  Israehtes, — or 
(according  to  the  separate  items  ^)  29,818  (in  Neh.  31,089) 
Israelites  (including  4,289  priests,  74  Levites,  128  (148) 
singers,  and  139  (138)  gate-keepers),— besides  7,337  male 
and  female  slaves,  and  200  singing  men  and  women, 
formed  the  company  which  returned  to  Judah  in  537. 
The  bulk  of  the  laity  were  naturally  of  the  tribes  of 
Judah  and  Benjamin,  the  only  two  secular  tribes  left  in 
Palestine  after  the  end  of  the  Northern  Kingdom  in  722. 

^  The  sum  total  (in  both  Ezr.  and  Neh.)  is  considerably  in 
excess  of  that  obtained  by  adding  together  the  numbers  of 
the  several  items.     The  source  of  the  discrepaiicy  is  uncertain. 


146  HAGGAI 

The  civil  head  of  the  restored  community  was  Sheshbazzar 
(Ezr.  i.  8,  II,  V.  14,  16),  of  whom  it  is  disputed  whether 
he  is  identical  with  Zerubbabel  or  not :  even,  however,  if 
(as  most  modern  scholars  hold  ^)  he  is  not,  Zerubbabel, 
the  grandson  of  Jehoiachin,  and  therefore  a  prince  of 
David's  line,  had  taken  his  place  as  pehdh,  or  governor, 
of  the  Persian  province  of  Judah,  and  civil  head  of  the 
Jewish  community,  before  520,  the  year  in  which  Haggai 
and  Zechariah  began  to  prophesy  (Ezr.  v.  i ;  Hag.  i.  i). 
The  ecclesiastical  head  of  the  community  was  Jeshua,  or 
Joshua,  grandson  of  Seraiah,  who  was  chief  priest  at  the 
time  of  the  destruction  of  the  Temple  in  586  (2  K.  xxv. 
18).  The  returned  exiles  settled  partly  in  Jerusalem, 
partly  in  a  number  of  towns  and  villages  in  the  neighbour- 
hood, such  as  Gibeon,  Beth-lehem,  Anathoth,  Kiriath- 
jearim,  Beth-el,  &c.  (Ezr.  ii.  20  ff.). 

The  first  public  act  of  the  restored  community  was  the 
erection  of  the  altar  of  burnt-offering  upon  its  old  site 
(Ezr.  iii.  2  f.).  This  statement  of  the  Book  of  Ezra  is 
confirmed  by  the  contemporary  allusion  in  Hag.  ii.  14 ; 
but  with  regard  to  the  date  of  the  foundation  of  the  new 
Temple,  a  difficulty  arises  on  account  of  the  conflict  of 
authorities.  According  to  Ezr.  iii.  8-13  this  ceremony  took 
place  in  the  second  year  of  the  return  (i.e.  in  536) ;  and 
with  this  statement  agrees  the  representation  of  Ezr.  iv.  1-5, 
242,  according  to  which  the  enemies  of  the  Jews  succeeded 
in  interrupting  the  rebuilding  of  the  Temple  till  the  second 
year  of  Darius  (b.  c.  520) ;  it  is  also  supported  by  Ezr.  v. 
16,  where  the  elders  of  the  Jews,  in  reply  to  the  letter 
sent  to  them  in  520  by  the  Satrap  Tattenai,  asking  what 
authority  they  had  for  building  the  Temple,  after 
appealing  to  the  permission  granted  by  Cyrus  to  Shesh- 

^  See  art.  *  Sheshbazzar  •  in  DB. 

-  Vv.  6-33  relate  both  to  a  different  (and  later)  occasion  and 
to  a  diflferent  subject,  viz.  not  the  Temple^  but  the  city-walls :  see 
the  Commentaries,  or  the  writer's  Intyod,  to  the  Lit.  of  the  OT., 
Rp.  514  f  (ed.  7,  pp.  547  f.). 


INTRODUCTION  147 

bazzar,  proceed  to  state  that  Sheshbazzar  Maid  the 
foundation  of  the  temple,  and  since  that  time  even  until 
now  it  hath  been  in  building,  and  yet  it  is  not  completed." 
Of  these  passages  Ezr.  iii.  8-13  and  iv.  1-5,  34  are  plainly 
the  work  of  the  compiler  of  the  Book  of  Ezra*,  i.  e.  of  the 
Chronicler  who  lived  some  250  years  after  B.C.  536,  so 
that  his  statements  have  not  the  value  of  contemporary 
history.  On  the  other  hand,  a  number  of  mostly 
contemporary  passages  seem  to  imply  that  the  foundation 
of  the  new  Temple  was  not  laid  till  the  second  year  of 
Darius  (b.  c.  520) ;  thus  Hag.  i.  4,  9  speaks  of  the  Temple 
in  that  year  as  being  still  '  waste ' ;  Ezr.  v.  2  describes 
Zerubbabel  and  Jeshua  as  'beginning'  to  build  the  house 
of  God,  with  the  encouragement  of  the  prophets  (i.e. 
Haggai  and  Zechariah  ;  see  Ezr.  v.  i,  vi.  14,  as  well  as 
Hag.  i.  14  f.,  Zech.  iv.  7-9),  not  in  536  but  in  520 ;  Hag. 
ii.  18  can  hardly  be  naturally  understood  except  as 
dating  its  foundation  in  the  same  year^ ;  and  Zech.  viii. 
9,— written  in,  or  after,  Darius's  fourth  year,  518  (see 
vii.  l),— appears  to  state  explicitly  that  its  'foundation 
was  laid '  at  the  same  time  (viz.  when  the  same  prophets 
were  active,  two  years  previously).  Upon  the  strength  of 
these  latter  passages  it  was  argued  by  Schrader^,  Kuenen, 
and  others,  that  the  Chronicler,  thinking  naturally  that 
the  first  care  of  the  returned  exiles  would  be  to  give  effect 
to  the  permission  granted  by  Cyrus,  and  begin  the  work 
of  rebuilding  the  Temple,  ante-dated  its  foundation  by  six- 
teen years,  assigning  to  B.  c.  536  what  really  did  not  take 

^  See  the  writer's  Introduction^  p.  514  (ed.  7,  p.  547). 

2  In  the  verse,  'Consider,  I  pray  you,  from  this  day  r»nward  : 
from  the  four  and  twentieth  day  of  the  ninth  month,  from  the 
day  that  the  foundation  of  Yahweh's  temple  was  [o>'has  been] 
laid,  consider  it,'  the  two  clauses  beginning  with  'from'  can 
hardly  be  an3rthing  but  parallel,  so  that  the  'day'  on  which 
the  Temple  was  founded  will  be  identical  with  the  twenty- 
fourth  day  of  the  ninth  month,  viz.  (see  v.  10)  in  Darius's  second 
year,  b.  c,  520. 

^  In  an  essay  written  on  the  subject  in  1867. 

L  2 


148  HAGGAI 

place  till  520.  In  view  of  the  frequently  unhistorical 
statements  and  descriptions  of  the  Chronicler,  especially 
where  religious  ceremonies  or  institutions  are  concerned 
(e.  g.  in  I  Ch.  xv-xvi  and  much  of  xxiii-xxix),  there 
would  certainly  be  nothing  intrinsically  improbable  in 
such  a  supposition :  but  the  terms  of  Ezr.  v.  16  seem  to 
be  too  explicit  to  admit  of  it  * ;  and  so  the  more  probable 
view  appears  to  be  that  the  foundation  was  laid  originally 
in  536,  but  that,  as  all  attempts  to  carry  the  work  further 
proved  for  the  time  abortive,  either  the  ceremony  was 
actually  repeated  when  the  work  was  resumed  in  earnest  in 
520^  or  at  any  rate  that  the  twenty -fourth  day  of  the  ninth 
month  in  520,  when  the  work  was  so  resumed,  was  treated 
as  the  day  on  which  the  foundation  of  the  Temple  was 
really  and  effectively  laid,  and  Haggai  and  Zechariah 
ignored  what  took  place  in  536  altogether. 

We  may,  then,  picture  the  foundation-stone  of  the 
restored  Temple  as  having  been  laid  formally  in  536. 
No  further  progress  was,  however,  made  for  sixteen  years. 
Various  causes  contributed  to  this  inactivity.  The  fifty 
years  of  captivity  had  taught  the  exiles  that  it  was  possible 
to  preserve  at  least  the  main  principles  of  their  religion 
without  Temple  or  altar.  The  more  zealous  party  would, 
no  doubt,  have  made  some  effort  to  rebuild  the  Temple, 


'  Schrader,  arguing  that  if  '  that  time '  in  Ezr.  v.  16  meant 
536  the  verse  would  directly  contradict  Ezr.  iv.  16,  concluded 
that  it  described  what  was  done  by  Sheshbazzar  in  520.  This, 
however,  is  hardly  likely, — and  indeed,  if  Sheshbazzar  be  not 
Zerubbabel,  impossible  :  the  statement  'since  that  time,'  &c., 
must  be  allowed  to  be  an  exaggeration,  but  it  is  to  be  explained, 
probably,  partly  by  the  fact  that  the  work  had  been  nominally 
in  hand  since  536,  and  partly  by  the  evident  desire  of  the 
elders  to  satisfy  Tattenai  that  it  had  not  been  begun  at  their 
own  initiative,  but  that  it  had  the  sanction  of  Cyrus,  and  was 
merely  the  continuation  of  what  had  been  begun  originally  by 
Sheshbazzar  sixteen  years  before  (so  Stade,  Gesch.,  ii.  123, 
Meyer,  Bertholet,  &c.). 

2  So  Stade,  Meyer,  Bertholet;  of.  G.  A.  Smith,  pp.  217  f., 
Nowack  (ed.  2),  pp.  323,  328. 


INTRODUCTION  149 

and  reorganize  public  worship  upon  its  former  footing, 
had  not  a  series  of  untoward  circumstances  stood  in  the 
way.  The  half-caste  Samaritans,— descendants  partly  of 
foreign  colonists,  partly  of  Israelites  who  had  escaped  the 
captivity  of  the  Northern  Kingdom  (b.  c.  722),— had 
begged  to  be  allowed  to  help  in  the  work  of  rebuilding 
the  Temple  ;  but  their  offer  had  been  refused  by  the 
Jews,— partly,  no  doubt,  upon  religious  grounds,  but  partly 
also,  it  is  probable,  from  a  fear  of  compromising  their 
political  independence,  and  forfeiting  the  privileges 
secured  to  them  by  the  edict  of  Cyrus,  if  they  formed 
alliances  with  their  neighbours:  and  the  effect  of  the 
refusal  was  that  the  Samaritans  became  the  determined 
foes  of  the  Jews,  and,  probably  by  misrepresentations  to 
the  local  Persian  authorities,  succeeded  in  seriously  im- 
peding the  further  progress  of  the  work  (Ezr.  iv.  1-5,  24^). 
The  country  was  also  insecure :  according  to  Zech.  viii. 
TO,  before  520  'there  was  no  safety  to  him  that  went  out 
or  came  in  because  of  the  adversary,'— the  reference  being 
probably  to  raids  made  by  the  Samaritans  or  other 
neighbours,  though  troubles  arising  from  the  passage  of 
Persian  troops  through  Judah,  when  Cambyses  invaded 
Egypt  in  527,  may  also  be  included.  Nor  was  this  all. 
The  land  had  lain  neglected  for  fifty  years,  and  it  was 
a  long  and  laborious  task  to  bring  it  into  proper  cultiva- 
tion again  :  a  succession  of  bad  seasons  added  to  the 
difficulty ;  droughts  prevailed ;  the  scanty  crops  were 
blasted  by  irrildew  and  beaten  down  by  bail :  a  few  indeed 
were  prosperous  enough  to  dwell  in  '  panelled '  houses, 
but  the  people  generally  were  impoverished  and  disap- 
pointed (Hag.  i.  4,  6,  9-II,  ii.  i6,  17;  cf.  Zech.  viii.  10). 
The  Second  Isaiah  liad  portrayed  dazzling  visions  of  the 
restoration :  a  triumphai  progress  of  the  exiles  returning 
through    the    desert ;    noble   trees    and    cooling   waters 

'   Kf.  6-23,  as  already  remai-ked  (p.  r46>/.\  hnve  nothfng  to 
do  with  vv.  1-5,  24. 


I50  HAGGAI 

aftbrding  them  refreshment  by  the  way;  Jerusalem  re- 
splendent with  every  glory  ;  the  people  basking  in  peace 
and  felicity ;  the  nations  of  the  earth  envious  of  their 
happiness,  and  vying  with  one  another  in  showing  them 
honour  and  respect  (Is.  xli.  l8f.,  xlviii.  20  f.,  xlix.  10  f., 
22  f.,  lii.  12,  liv.  II  f.,  Iv.  12 f.,  Ix,  Ixi.  5  f.,  Ixv.  17-25). 
The  reality  was  a  bitter  disenchantment:  the  people 
were  disheartened :  they  concluded  that  the  wrath  of 
God  was  not  yet  removed  from  them  (Zech.  i.  12),  and 
that  '  the  time  had  not  yet  come  for  Yahweh's  house  to 
be  built'  (Hag.  i.  2). 

Meanwhile,  important  events  were  taking  place  in  the 
Persian  empire.  After  the  death  of  Cambyses  in  522, 
the  Magian  Gaumdta,  who  pretended  to  be  Cambyses's 
brother  Smerdis,  usurped  the  throne,  and  held  it  for 
seven  months.  His  murder  by  Darius  Hystaspis  and 
six  others,  and  the  elevation  of  Darius  to  the  throne 
(Hdt.  iii.  67-88),  was  the  signal  for  the  outbreak  of  great 
disturbances  in  the  Persian  empire.  As  we  learn  from 
the  Behistun  inscription,  a  series  of  pretenders  arose  in 
different  parts  of  the  empire,  and  many  provinces  revolted, 
which  had  all  to  be  reconquered  by  Darius.  First 
Susiana  rebelled  under  one  Atrina,  who  styled  himself 
king  there  ;  then  Babylon  under  Nidintubel,  who  claimed 
to  be  *  Nebuchadnezzar,  son  of  Nabuna'id,'  and  who  is 
shown  by  contract-tablets  to  have  reigned  in  Babylon 
from  Oct.  521  till  Aug.  520,  when  Darius  defeated 
Nidintubel  in  front  of  Babylon,  and,  entering  the  city 
a  few  days  afterwards,  put  him  to  death.  Whilst  he  was 
in  Babylon,  Darius  tells  us,  the  provinces  of  Persia, 
Susiana,  Media,  Assyria,  Armenia,  Parthia,  Margiana, 
Sattagydia,  Sacia  all  revolted  \  The  revolt  in  Susiana 
was  soon  subdued,  but  the  others  were  more  serious,  and 
were  not  suppressed  without  many  months  of  hard 
fighting  ^       Altogether    Darius    enumerates     (including 

'   Beliistun  Inscr..  col.  i.  par.  16 — col.  ii.  par.  2. 

'^  It  is  unnpces«vary  to  state  particular*;  here  :  the}'  are  given 


INTRODUCTION  151 

Gaumdta)  nine  pretenders,  and  says  that  it  cost  him  nine- 
teen battles  to  put  them  down.  His  authority  was  not 
finally  established  in  his  empire  till  the  spring  of  519. 

News  of  these  occurrences  would  naturally  reach 
Jerusalem ;  and  as  in  the  past  the  prophets  had  often 
caught  their  inspiration  from  great  movements  around 
them,  in  which  they  traced  the  workings  of  Yahweh's 
hand,  so,  it  can  hardly  be  doubted,  this  shaking  of 
nations  in  the  East  helped  to  awaken  the  spirit  of 
prophecy  in  Haggai,  and  determine  the  direction  of  his 
thoughts.  It  was  a  shaking  which,  as  he  wrote  in  520, 
seemed  destined  to  spread  ;  it  seemed  destined  to  embrace 
other  nations,  and  to  be  likely  before  long  to  issue  in  that 
overthrow  of  heathen  powers  to  which  the  older  prophets 
had  often  looked  forward  as  preceding  the  advent  of  the 
Messianic  age.  It  was  imperative, therefore,  that  Yahweh's 
Temple  should  be  made  ready  for  Him  as  speedily  as 
possible :  when  this  was  done,  the  people  would  no 
longer  have  cause  to  complain  of  bad  seasons  and  other 
disappointments :  Yahweh's  blessing  would  rest  upon 
them  (Hag.  ii.  19)  ;  there  would  be  a  'shaking'  both  of 
*  heaven  and  earth,'  and  of  '  all  nations' :  some  would  offer 
willingly  of  their  costliest  treasures  to  beautify  the  restored 
Temple;  nations  unfriendly  to  Yahweh  and  His  people 
would  be  overthrown,  and  perish  by  internecine  strife : 
the  Messianic  age  of  peace  and  felicity  would  thereupon 
begin  in  Judah,  with  an  honourable  place  reserved  in  it 
for  Zerubbabel  (Hag.  ii.  7,  9,  21-23).  Haggai  thus 
reaffirms  the  Messianic  hope  of  the  older  prophets,  in 
a  form  suggested  by,  and  adapted  to,  the  circumstances 
of  the  age  in  which  he  lived. 

Of  course  Haggai,  in  his  picture  of  the  future  kingdom 
of  God,  portrays,  like  the  other  prophets,  an  ideal.  As 
he  looks  out  into  the  future  he  idealizes  it :  he  pictures 
____ — , * 

.It  length  by  Darius  in  the  same  Inscr.,  colli,  par,  3 -col.  iv 
par.  4. 


152  HAGGAI 

the  restored  Temple  as  the  religious  centre  of  the  world 
(Is.  ii.  2-4),  nations  coming  m  pilgrimage  to  it,  delighting 
to  honour  it  with  their  gifts,  and  so  making  it  more  glorious 
even  than  the  Temple  of  Solomon.  The  vision  has  not 
been  fulfilled  (cf.  p.  180),  and  of  course  can  now  never  be 
fulfilled  except  in  a  spiritual  sense.  AJl  nations  may  own 
one  religion  and  one  God  ;  but  the  one  Temple  in  which, 
when  this  consummation  has  arrived,  they  will  offer  their 
worship  and  their  gifts  can  obviously  be  only  a  spiritual 
Temple. 

Haggai's  book  consists  of  four  distinct,  though  related, 
prophecies,  all  belonging  to  the  second  year  of  Darius, 
B.C.  520. 

1.  Chap.  i.  On  the  first  day  of  the  sixth  month 
Haggai  appeals  publicly  to  the  people  no  longer  to 
postpone  the  work  of  rebuilding  the  Temple :  their 
neglect  was  not  due  to  want  of  means,  for  some,  ai  any 
rate,  had  built  panelled  houses  for  themselves,  and  it  had 
been  followed  by  failure  of  crops  and  drought,  indicative 
of  the  Divine  displeasure:  if  they  would  regain  Yahweh's 
favour,  let  them  fetch  timber  from  the  mountains,  and 
begin  the  work  of  restoration  at  once.  His  words  produced 
such  an  effect  upon  those  who  heard  them  that,  on  the 
24th  of  the  same  month,  the  people,  headed  by  Zerubbabed, 
and  the  high  priest  Joshua,  began  the  work. 

2.  Ch.  ii.1-9.  On  the  2ist  day  of  the  seventh  month  the 
prophet  addresses  words  of  encouragement  to  those  who 
felt  disheartened  as  they  gazed  upon  the  ruined  remains 
of  Solomon's  Temple,  and  wondered  whether  they  could 
ever  be  restored  to  their  former  magnificence :  the  future 
glor>'  of  the  Temple,  he  declares,  will  exceed  its  former 
glory ;  for  soon  a  great  *  shaking '  of  all  things  will  take 
place  ;  the  Messianic  age  will  be  established ;  and  the 
Temple  will  be  beautified  by  the  offerings  of  the  Gentiles. 

3.  Ch.  ii.  10-19.  On  the  24th  day  of  the  ninth  month, 
Haggai,  in  order  further  to  impress  upon  the  people  the  im- 
portance of  pressing  on  with  the  restoration  of  the  Temple, 


INTRODUCTION  153 

teaches  them,  by  means  of  a  kind  of  parable,  that  so  long  as 
it  remains  unbuilt,  a  taint  of  guilt  clings  to  everything  that 
they  do,  and  they  cannot  expect  the  unfruitful  seasons  to 
come  to  an  end  ;  if,  however,  they  will  only  continue  the 
good  work  which  they  have  on  this  very  day  begun,  they 
may  confidently  look  forward  to  receive  Yahweh's  blessing. 

4.  Ch.  ii.  20-23.  An  encouragement  addressed,  on  the 
same  day,  to  Zerubbabel  personally,  as  the  representative 
of  the  Davidic  dynasty,  and  therefore  the  object  of  patriotic 
hopes.  Zerubbabel  is  assured  by  the  prophet  that,  in  the 
approaching  overthrow  of  heathen  powers,  his  position 
will  remain  unshaken,  and  he  will  be  made  Yahweh's 
honoured  and  trusted  vice-gerent. 

The  literary  style  of  Haggai,  though  not  devoid  of  force, 
is,  comparatively  speaking,  simple  and  inornate  :  he  lacks 
the  imagination  and  poetical  power  possessed  by  the 
prophets  generally.  But  he  possesses  all  the  feeling  and 
spirit  of  a  prophet ;  and  his  ministry  was  rewarded  with 
a  success  which  was  denied  to  some  of  his  greater 
predecessors.  Times  had  changed :  and  though  he  had 
to  arouse  the  people  to  exertion  on  God's  behalf,  he  had 
not,  like  most  of  the  pre-exilic  prophets,  to  call  them  to 
repentance,  or  to  threaten  them  with  judgement  for  their 
idolatry  and  other  national  sins.  '  In  his  opening  message 
Haggai  evinced  the  first  indispensable  power  of  the 
prophet — to  speak  to  the  situation  of  the  moment,  and  to 
succeed  in  getting  men  to  take  up  the  duty  at  their  feet ; 
in  another  message  he  announced  agreat  ethical  principle^; 
in  his  last  he  conserved  the  Messianic  traditions  of  his 
religion,  and,  though  disappointed  in  the  personality 
(Zerubbabel)  to  whom  he  looked  for  their  fulfilment, 
he  succeeded  in  passing  on  their  hope  undiminished  to 
future  ages '  (G.  A.  Smith,  p.  252). 

*  Viz.  (ii.  10-19)  that  evil  has  a  greater  infectious  power 
than  holiness. 


HAGGAI 

1  In  the  second  year  of  Darius  the  king,  in  the  sixth 
month,  in  the  first  day  of  the  month,  came  the  word  of 
the  Lord  by  Haggai  the  prophet  unto  Zerubbabel  the 
son  of  Shealtiel,  governor  of  Judah,  and  to  Joshua  the 

1.  the  second  year,  &c.     b.  c.  520.     See  the  Introduction. 

Darius.  Heb.  Darydvesh^  which  corresponds  very  closely 
to  the  form  used  by  Darius  himself  in  his  inscriptions,  Ddryavush. 
'  Darius,'  comes,  of  course,  through  the  Latin,  from  the  Greek 
form  of  the  name,  Aap€io<{.  Darius  Hystaspis  (b.  c.  522-485)  is 
the  Persian  king  of  whom  we  hear  much  from  Herodotus,  and 
who  led  the  expedition  against  Greece,  which  was  repulsed  by 
the  Athenians  at  Marathon,  b.  c.  490. 

Darius  the  kingf.  The  order  usual  in  Aramaic,  and  found 
as  a  rule  in  the  post-exilic  books  of  the  O.  T.  In  the  older 
books  the  order,  almost  without  exception,  is  the  king  David,  the 
king  Solomon,  &c. 

the  sixth  month.  The  month  called  by  the  Assyrians  and 
Babylonians  Elid  (Neh.  vi.  15  ;  i  Mace.  xiv.  27),  corresponding 
to  our  Aug.-Sept. 

the  son  of  Shealtiel.  Cf.  Ezr.  iii.  2,  8,  v.  2  ;  Neh.  xii.  i  ; 
Mt.  i.  12  ;  Luke  iii.  27.  Shealtiel  was  son  of  Jeconiah  (i.  e. 
Jehoiachin),  the  king  of  Judah  who  (2  K.  xxiv.  15)  was  taken 
captive  to  Babj'lon  (i  Chr.  iii.  17)  :  Zerubbabel  was  consequently 
in  the  direct  line  of  descent  from  David. 

g-overnor  of  Judah :  i.  e.  governor  of  the  Persian  province 
of  Judah.  The  word  pehdh  is  of  Assyrian  origin  :  it  occurs 
constantly  in  the  Ass.  and  Bab.  inscriptions  of  the  *  goverrior '  of 
a  province  ;  and  when  the  Persians  succeeded  to  the  empire  of 
the  Babylonians  the  name  passed  on  to  them.  It  often  occurs 
in  post-exilic  writings  in  the  same  sense,  as  ii.  2,  21,  Mai.  i.  8, 
Neh.  ii.  7,  9,  &c. 

Joshua.  The  first  high-priest  after  the  restoration,  often 
mentioned  in  the  Book  of  Haggai  (see  i.  12,  14,  ii.  2,  4  .  and 
Zechariah  (iii,  vi.  ii\  called  in  Ezra  (ii.  2,  iii.  2  al.)  and 
Nehemiah  (xii.  i  ah)  Jeshun.  He  was  son  of  Jehozadak.  the  high- 
priest  who  was  taken  to  Babylon  by  the  Chaldaeans  i  Chr.  vi.  15^, 
and  grandson  of  the  liigh-prirst  Seraiah.  who  was  put  to  death  bj' 


HAGGAI  1.  3-6  155 

son  of  Jehozadak,  the  high  priest,  saying,  Thus  speaketh  2 
the  Lord  of  hosts,  saying,  This  people  say,  '^It  is  not 
the  time  for  its  to  come,  the  time  for  the  Lord's  house 
to  be  built.    Then  came  the  word  of  the  Lord  by  Haggai  3 
the  prophet,  saying,  Is  it  a  time  for  you  yourselves  to  dwell  4 
in  your  cieled  houses,  while  this  house  lieth  waste  ?  Now  5 
therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts  :  ^  Consider  your 
ways.     Ye  have  sown  much,  and  bring  in  little ;  ye  eat,  6 

*  According  to  many  ancient  versions,  77?^  time  is  not  come  for 
the  Lord's  house  &c. 

^  Heb.  Set  your  heart  on  your  ways. 


Nebuchadnezzar  at  Riblah,  after  the  capture  of  Jerusalem,  b.  c. 
586  (2  K.  XXV.  18-21;. 

2-6.  The  prophet,  in  Yahweh's  name,  rebukes  the  people  : 
they  have  been  remiss  in  making  no  effort  to  rebuild  the  Temple; 
hence  their  present  distress  and  want. 

2.  This  people.  With  a  touch  of  depreciation,  as  Is.  vi.  9,  10, 
xxviii.  II,  14  aL 

The  time  is  not  come  for  Yahweh's  house  to  be  built. ,  So 
we  must  read,  following  RVm.:  the  Hebrew  text  has  a  forced 
and  unnatural  construction.  The  people  were  disheartened  :  the 
glowing  promises  of  the  Second  Isaiah  had  not  been  fulfilled  ; 
a  succession  of  bad  harvests  (vv.  6,  11)  seemed  to  indicate  that 
Yahweh's  anger  still  rested  upon  them.  So  they  argued  that  the 
time  had  not  yet  arrived  for  the  Temple  to  be  built. 

3.  The  prophet  retorts  the  word  they  use  upon  themselves  :  is 
it,  then,  the  'time'  for  them  to  live  in  well-built,  panelled  houses? 

in  your  cieled  houses.  More  exactly,  in  your  houses,  (and 
that  too)  panelled.  *  Cieled  '  is  here  a  very  misleading  archaism 
(see  W.  A.  Wright's  Bible  Word-Book,  s.  v.,  or  Hastings'  DB., 
s.  V.) :  for  the  word  has  no  reference  to  what  we  now  call  the 
'  cieling,'  but  means  panelled :  the  walls,  viz.  were  wainscotted  with 
costly  woodwork  (cf.  Jer.  xxii.  14).  *  Cieled  '  has  the  same  mean- 
ing in  2  Chr.  iii.  5,  Jer.  xxii.  14,  Ez.  xli.  16  (AV.  and  RV.), 

5.  Consider.  Heb.  set  your  heart  on  (i.  e.  give  3'our  attention 
to)  :  so  V.  7,  ii.  15,  18  ;  also  Job  i.  8  a/. 

your  ways :  i.  e.  what  3'ou  have  been  doing,  and  what  it  is 
leading  to,  viz.  (v.  6)  impoverishment  and  want. 

6.  The  crops  are  scanty  and  poor,  men  are  consequent!}' 
insufficiently  nourished,  unable  to  resist  the  cold,  and  im- 
poverished. 


156  HAGGAI  1.  7-9 

but  ye  have  not  enough ;  ye  drink,  but  ye  are  not  filled 
with  drink ;  ye  clothe  you,  but  there  is  none  warm  ;  and 
he  that  earneth  wages  earneth  wages  to  put  it  into  a  bag 

7  with  holes.     Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts :  a-  Consider 

8  your  ways.  Go  up  to  the  ^mountain,  and  bring  wood,  and 
build  the  house  ;  and  I  will  take  pleasure  in  it,  and  I  will 

9  be  glorified,  saith  the  Lord.  Ye  looked  for  much,  and, 
lo,  it  came  to  little;  and  when  ye  brought  it  home,  I  did 
cblowuponit.    Why?  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts.    Because 

*  Yitki.  Set  your  heart  on  your  ways.  ^  Or,  hill  country 

^  Or,  blow  it  away 

"but  ye  have  not,  &c.  More  exactly,  but  ye  cannot  have 
enoiig-h;  ye  drink,  but  ye  cannot  be  filled  with  drink;  yc 
clothe  you,  but  ye  cannot  get  warm. 

he  that  earneth  wagfes,  &c.  An  expressive  figure.  Earnings 
quickly  disappear  :  they  are  small  in  themselves,  and  are  soon 
spent  in  providing  the  merest  necessaries  of  life.  Cf.  Zech. 
viii.  10. 

7.  8.  The  people  are  again  bidden  to  'consider  their  ways,' 
with  the  view  of  beginning  to  do  now  what  they  have  so  long 
neglected. 

8.  Go  up  to  the  hill  country,  «&c.  :  i.  e.  into  the  mountainous 
country  about  Jerusalem,  where  there  must  at  this  time  have  been 
woods  (cf.  Neh.  ii.  8,  viii.  15).  There  would  probably  be  almost 
sufficient  stonework  remaining  from  Solomon's  Temple;  but  the 
woodwork  had  been  burnt,  and  would  have  to  be  replaced. 

be  crlorified:  or,  glorify  myself,  viz.  by  pouring  out  My 
blessing  upon  you,  and  bringing  in  the  Messianic  age. 

9-11.  The  cause  of  the  recent  bad  harvests  and  scarcity  of 
food. 

9.  A  double  misfortune  had  fallen  upon  them.  They  had 
expected  plentiful  harvests,  but  had  had  scanty  ones ;  and  what 
they  had  gathered  into  the  barns,  being  sickly  or  blighted,  had 
quickly  become  spoilt. 

blown  (or  breathed)  upon.  Either  with  the  collateral  idea 
(cf.  RVm.)  oi  blowing  away,  or  (We.,  Marti),  in  accordance  with 
a  popular  superstition,  with  that  of  spoiling :  cf.  the  statement  of 
a  modern  traveller,  cited  by  Marti,  'The  Muslims  dislike  it  ex- 
tremely, when  any  one  breathes  on  a  threshing-floor  full  of  corn  ; 
they  say  that  the  devil  then  comes  by  night,  and  carries  away  a 
part  of  the  harvest.' 

Because,  &c.     The  bad  seasons,  so  far  from  being,  as  the 


HAGGAI  1.  lo,  II  157 

of  mine  house  that  lieth  waste,  while  ye  run  every  man  to 
his  own  house.  Therefore  ^  for  your  sake  the  heaven  is  10 
stayed  from  dew,  and  the  earth  is  stayed  frof/i  her  fruit. 
And  I  called  for  a  drought  upon  the  land,  and  upon  the  1 1 
mountains,  and  upon  the  corn,  and  upon  the  wine,  and 
upon  the  oil,  and  upon  that  which  the  ground  bringeth 
*  Or,  over  you 

people  thought  (v.  2),  an  indication  that  the  time  for  building  the 
Temple  had  not  yet  arrived,  are  in  fact  a  sign  of  Yahweh's  dis- 
pleasure for  their  slackness  in  the  work,  at  the  same  time  that  they 
are  ready  enough  to  build  and  adorn  their  own  houses  (cf.  v.  2). 

run  ...  to.  Fig.  for  devote  themselves  eagerly  to  (cf.  '  run 
to  evil/  Pr.  i.  16).  But  perhaps,  with  a  slight  change,  we  should 
read  (We.,  Now.,  Marti),  take  pleasure  every  man  in. 

10.  for  your  sake.  The  Heb.  preposition  is  ambiguous,  and 
might  mean  either  for  your  sake  (cf.  Ps.  xliv.  22),  or  over  you  (cf. 
Dt.  xxviii.  23).  In  the  former  case,  however,  the  words  arc 
superfluous  after  Therefore ;  and  in  the  latter  case  the  point  would 
not  have  the  full  force  that  it  has  in  Dt.  xxviii.  23.  LXX  do  not 
express  the  words  ;  and  it  is  possible  that  cs''??  io  due  to  a  faulty- 
repetition  of  the  preceding  p  ^  '  therefore '  (so  We.,  Now.,  Smith, 
Marti). 

is  stayed,  &c.  Read  (omitting  one  letter) :  hath  withheld 
the  dew,  and  the  earth  hath  withheld  her  increase  (Zech.  viii. 
12).  The  Heb.  verb  is  never  used  intransitively.  Even  RV.  (  = 
AV.)  implies  the  addition  of  a  letter  :  notice  the  itsdic  from. 

dew.  Dew  in  Palestine  is  copious,  as  it  is  also  indispensable 
for  vegetation,  during  the  hot  and  rainless  summers :  hence  it  is 
often  mentioned  as  a  condition  of  fertility,  e.  g.  Dt.  xxxiii.  13,  28, 
Zech.  viii.  12. 

11.  A  drought  had  fallen  consequently  upon  the  entire  produce 
of  the  soil. 

called.     Cf.  2  K.  viii.  i. 

wine :  rather,  must.  The  Heb.  tirosh  appears  to  have  been 
a  comprehensive  term,  denoting  sometimes  (cf.  Joef  ii.  24)  the 
freshly-expressed  juice  of  the  grape,  sometimes  (cf.  Jud.  ix.  13  ; 
Hos,  iv.  11)  a  light  kind  of  wine,  such  as  the  ancients  often  made 
by  checking  artificially  the  fermentation  of  the  juice  before  it  had 
run  its  full  course  (see  more  fully  the  note  in  the  writer's  Joel 
and  Amos,  in  the  Cambridge  Bible,  pp.  79  f.).  'Corn,  must,  and 
fresh  oil '  {yizhdr)  are  often  mentioned  together  as  the  three  staple 
products  of  the  soil  of  Palestine  :  e.g.  Dt.  vii.  13,  xi.  14  ;  Hos.  ii, 
8,  32  :  for  tirosh  cf.  albo  Is.  Ixii.  8,  Ixv.  8  ;  Zech.  ix.  17. 


158  HAGGAI  1.  12-14 

forth,  and  upon  men,  and  upon  cattle,  and  upon  all  the 
labour  of  the  hands. 
13  Then  Zerubbabel,  the  son  of  Shealtiel,  and  Joshua  the 
son  of  Jehozadak,  the  high  priest^  with  all  the  remnant  of 
the  people,  obeyed  the  voice  of  the  Lord  their  God,  and 
the  words  of  Haggai  the  prophet,  as  the  Lord  their  God 
had  sent  him ;  and  the  people  did  fear  before  the  Lord. 

13  Then  spake  Haggai  the  Lord's  messenger  in  the  Lord's 
message  unto  the  people,  saying,  I  am  with  you,  saith  the 

14  Lord.    And  the  Lord  stirred  up  the  spirit  of  Zerubbabel 


labour:  i.e.  labour  connected  with  agriculture  ;  here  of  the 
product  of  labour,  as  Dt.  xxviii.  33,  Ps.  Ixxviii.  46. 

'  For  ourselves,  Haggai's  appeal  to  the  barren  seasons,  and 
poverty  of  the  people,  as  proof  of  God's  anger  with  their 
selfishness,  must  raise  questions.  But  we  have  already  seen, 
not  only  that  national  calamities  were  by  the  ancient  world  inter- 
preted as  the  penal  instruments  of  the  Deity,  but  that  all  through 
history  they  have  had  a  wonderful  influence  on  the  spirits  of  men, 
forcing  them  to  search  their  own  hearts,  and  to  believe  that 
Providence  is  conducted  for  other  ends  than  our  own  physical 
prosperity '  (G.  A.  Smith,  ii.  239  f.  ;  cf.  i.  i6a  f.). 

ia-15.  The  effects  of  Haggai's  prophecy.  A  little  more  than 
three  weeks  afterwards,  the  people,  headed  by  Zerubbabel  and 
the  high-priest  Joshua,  began  the  work. 

12.  the  remnant  of  the  people  :  i.e.  those  who  had  returned 
from  Babylon,  the  ^  remnant '  of  a  once  more  numerous  nation. 
So  V.  14,  ii.  2  ;  Zech.  viii.  6  :  cf.  Is.  xlvi.  3. 

obeyed.  Lit.  hearkened  to, — which  is,  of  course,  the 
etymological  meaning  of  ^  obeyed '  (pb-audio).     So  always. 

did  fear  before  Yahweh.  Recognizing  His  hand  in  the  bad 
seasons  that  had  befallen  them,  and  accepting  them  as  a  punish- 
ment for  their  neglect  of  His  house. 

13.  in  Yahweh's  message.  Rather,  by  Yahweh's  messengrer- 
ahip  :  i.e.  in  virtue  of  his  being  commissioned  by  Yahweh  as  His 
prophet  The  word  '■  messenger '  (often  in  the  common  sense  of 
the  word,  and  also  as  =  angel)  is  applied  only  here  to  a  prophet. 

Z  am  with  you.  A  word  of  encouragement  and  consola- 
tion :  ii.  4^,  Gen.  xxviii.  15  ;  Ex.  iii.  12;  Jos.  i.  5;  Jer.  i.  8,  and 
frequently. 

14.  stirred  up  the  spirit  of  .  .  .  So  Jer.  Ii.  11 ;  i  Chr.  v.  26  ; 
2  Chr.  xxi.  16,  xxxvi.  22  (^  Ezr.  i.  i)  ;  Ezr.  i.  5. 


HAGGAI  1.  15—2.  2  159 

the  son  of  Shealtiel,  governor  of  Judah,  and  the  spirit  of 
Joshua  the  son  of  Jehozadak,  the  high  priest,  and  the 
spirit  of  all  the  remnant  of  the  people ;  and  they  came 
and  did  work  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  of  hosts,  their 
God,  in  the  four  and  twentieth  day  of  the  month,  in  the  15 
sixth  month,  in  the  second  year  of  Darius  the  king. 

In  the  seventh  month,  in  the  one  and  twentieth  day  of  2 
the  month,  came  the  word  of  the  Lord  by  Haggai  the 
prophet,  saying.  Speak  now  to  Zerubbabel  the  son  of  ^ 
Shealtiel,  governor  of  Judah,  and  to  Joshua  the  son  of 

and  they  came,  &c.     Cf.  for  the  fact  Ezr.  v.  2. 
did  work.     As  2  K.  xii.  11.     'Work'  is  a  substantive.     As 
the  actual  building  seems  only  to  have   begun  later  (see  on  ii. 
15-19),  the  reference  will  probably  be  to  the  preliminary  labour 
of  clearing  away  rubbish,  &c. 

ii.  1-9.  Those  among  the  people  who  remembered  what  the 
Temple  of  Solomon  was  like,  before  it  had  been  pillaged,  and  its 
woodwork  burnt,  by  the  Chaldaeans  (2  K.  xxv.  9,  13-17),  were 
no  doubt  greatly  discouraged  when  they  saw  its  dismantled  walls 
and  ruined  courts,  which  had  now  lain  neglected  for  more  than 
sixty  years,  and  wondered  whether  it  would  ever  be  possible  to 
restore  them  to  their  former  magnificence  :  whatever  had  been 
done  during  the  past  month  (i.  15),  the  Temple  in  its  present 
condition  presented  a  disheartening  spectacle.  It  was  to  counteract 
such  despondency  that  Haggai  spoke  the  words  of  encouragement 
contained  in  ii.  1-9,  promising  that,  in  spite  of  its  present  un- 
worthy appearance,  the  later  glory  of  the  Temple  would  transcend 
its  former  glory,  for  the  Messianic  age  is  speedily  approaching  : 
the  ideals  of  prophecy  (e.  g.  Is.  Ix)  will  be  shortly  fulfilled ;  and 
the  Temple  will  be  beautified  with  the  wealth  of  the  nations  (Is. 
Ix.  5,  7,  13). 

The  Temple  was  actually  completed  four  years  afterwards,  in 
516  (Ezr.  vi.  15).  Its  completion  'marks  a  new  stage  in  religious 
history.  It  was  the  first  and  most  definite  step  towards  the 
realization  of  Ezekiel's  vision  of  a  holy  community  having  the 
sanctuary  as  its  visible  centre  and  rallying-point.  That  Haggai 
connected  the  advent  of  the  Messianic  age  with  Zerubbabel  is  an 
instance  T)f  the  inevitable  limitations  of  prophecy.  But  he  at 
least  succeeded  (G.  A.  Smith,  ii.  252)  in  "  asserting  the  Messianic 
hope  of  Israel,  always  baffled,  never  quenched,  in  this  reopening 
of  her  life"'  (Ottley,  Religion  of  IsraeL  1905.  p.  128}. 

2.  Zerubbabal,  &'c.     See  on  i.  r. 


i6o  HAGGAI  2.  3-5 

Jehozadak,  the  high  priest,  and  to  the  remnant  of  the 

3  people,  saying,  Who  is  left  among  you  that  saw  this  house 
in  its  former  glory  ?  and  how  do  ye  see  it  now  ?  is  it  not 

4  in  your  eyes  as  nothing  ?  Yet  now  be  strong,  O  Zerub- 
babel,  saith  the  Lord  ;  and  be  strong,  O  Joshua,  son  of 
Jehozadak,  the  high  priest ;  and  be  strong,  all  ye  people 
of  the  land,  saith  the  Lord,  and  work :  for  I  am  with 

5  you,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  ^  according  to  the  word 
that  I  covenanted  with  you  when  ye  came  out  of  Egypt, 

*  Or,  Remember  the  word,  ifc. 

the  remnant  of  the  people.     See  on  i.  12. 

3.  Who  is  left,  «S£C.  Solomon's  Temple  was  burnt  by  the 
Chaldaeans  sixty-six  years  before  (b.  c.  586)  ;  so  that  none  but 
a  few  very  aged  men  could  have  remembered  it. 

this  house  :  the  dismantled  walls  of  Solomon's  Temple. 

as  nothing  :  i.  e.  in  comparison  with  what  it  was  in  its  glory, 
when  it  was  not  only  panelled  on  its  inner  walls  with  cedar,  and 
decorated  with  carvings,  but  also,— even  though  there  may  be 
some  exaggeration  in  the  descriptions', — in  many  parts  overlaid 
with  gold. 

4.  he  strong* :  !•  e.  be  of  good  courage,  as  2  S.  x.  12  al.  (Heb.). 
for  I  am  with  you.     Cf,  i.  13. 

5.  The  Hebrew  is  highly  anomalous  :  '  the  word  '  is  preceded  by 
the  mark  of  the  accusative,  and  there  is  no  verb  to  govern  it ;  the 
insertion  of  'according  to'  in  AV.,  RV.  is  utterly  ungrammatical. 
If  we  understand  'Remember'  (RVm.  ;  cf.  Zech.  vii.  7),  the 
reference  will  be  to  Yahweh's  promise  or  covenant  that,  if  Israel 
would  be  obedient  to  His  voice,  He  would  make  it  His  possession 
out  of  all  peoples  (Ex.  xix.  5;  cf.  Jer.  xi.  3-5).  But  to  understand 
'  Remember '  is  more  than  is  possible.  It  seems  that  we  must, 
with  We.,  Now.,  Smith,  Marti,  follow  the  LXX,  which  does  not 
express  the  first  clause  of  v.  5  at  all,  reading  {v.  ^)  'for  I  am 
with  you,  saith  Yahweh  of  hosts,  and  my  spirit  abideth  in  your 
midst  :  fear  ye  not.'  This  yields  an  excellent  sense,  in  agreement 
with  the  context :  the  omitted  words,  on  the  contrary,  introduce 
a  thought  foreign  to  their  context,  and  are  apparently  a  gloss, 
intended  to  remind  the  reader  of  the  covenant  made  with  Israel 
at  the  Exodus,  as  forming  the  basis  of  all  Yahweh's  sAsequent 
relations  with  His  people. 

^  See  DB.  iv.  701*;  EB.  'Temple,'  §9;  Barney,  Notes  on  the 
Hebre-w  text  of  Kings,  pp.  73  f.  (with  reserve). 


HAGGAI  2.  6  i6i 

and  my  spirit  » abode  among  you :  fear  ye  not.     For  6 
thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts :  Yet  once,  it  is  a  little 
while,  and  I  will  shake  the  heavens,  and  the  earth,  and 

»  Or,  abide th 

abode.  RVm.  abideth  is  much  preferable.  It  is  the  presence 
of  Yahweh's  spirit  in  Israel  now  (Zech.  iv.  6),  not  in  the  past  (Is. 
Ixiii.  ii),  to  which  Haggai  appeals. 

6-9.  The  promise  itself,  giving  the  grounds  of  the  encourage- 
ment expressed  in  vv.  4,  5.  In  the  first  two  years  of  Darius' 
reign  (522-520)  his  empire  was  in  a  disturbed  state  ;  many 
important  provinces  revolted  under  pretenders,  and  were  with 
difficulty  reduced  to  submission  (see  p.  150)  ;  and  as  in  the  past 
movements  among  the  nations,  or  approaching  political  crises, 
taken  in  conjunction  with  their  bearing  upon  Israel,  had  often 
given  the  impulse  to  prophecy,  and  determined  the  form  and 
imagery  of  prophetic  utterances,  so  now  Haggai  throws  his 
prophetic  thought  into  a  form  suggested  by  the  circumstances  of 
his  time  :  he  announces  the  signs  that  are  to  precede  the  advent 
of  the  ideal  kingdom  of  God  :  nations  will  be  shaken,  and  earthly 
kingdoms  overthrown  (cf.  especially  ii.  21-23);  ^nd  then,  as  God's 
kingdom  is  established  upon  Zion,  the  peoples  of  the  earth  will 
vie  with  one  another  in  bringing  their  costliest  offerings  to 
beautify  His  Temple  (cf.  Is.  Ix.  5-7,  11). 

6.  a  little  while.  The  future,  as  often  in  prophecy,  is  fore- 
shortened. Isaiah,  for  example,  anticipated  the  ideal  kingdom  of 
God  as  being  established  immediately  after  the  overthrow  of 
Sennacherib  (Is.  xi.  i-io,  cf.  x.  33  f.  ;  xxxii.  1-8,  cf.  xxxi.  8-9) ; 
the  Second  Isaiah  represents  the  ideal  future  as  beginning  im- 
mediately after  the  people's  return  from  Babylon  (e.  g.  Is.  Ix,  Ixi. 
4-9)  ;  and  here  Haggai  similarly  pictures  the  Gentiles  as  coming 
to  do  homage  at  Jerusalem  within  *a  little  while.'  Cf.  ii.  20-23, 
where  Zerubbabel  is  assigned  a  place  in  the  Messianic  kingdom, 

I  will  shftte,  &c.  As  ii.  21-3  shows,  political  convulsions 
are  what  the  prophet  has  primarily  in  view  ;  but  he  pictures  them 
here  as  accompanied  by  earthquake,  and  other  physical  manifesta- 
tions (cf.  Is.  xiii.  10,  13,  as  accompanying  the  fall  of  Babylon  ; 
Ez.  xxxii.  7  f.). 

This  verse  is  quoted  (partly)  in  Heb.  xii.  26  f.  The  apostle 
finds  an  emphasis  in  the  expression  Yet  once,  implying  the  finality 
of  the  *  shaking '  referred  to  by  the  prophet  ;  and  he  interprets 
the  passage  as  signifying  'the  removal  of  the  things  that  are  being 
shaken,  as  of  things  that  have  been  made  '  (i.  e.  of  the  earthly  and 
transitory  Jewish  dispensation,  then,  as  he  wrote,  on  the  point  of 
passing  away),  '  that  those  things  which  are  not  shaken  may 
remain  '  (i.  e.  the  spiritual  or  Christian  order  of  things,  spoken 

M 


i62  HAGGAI  2.  7-9 

7  the  sea,  and  the  dry  land ;  and  I  will  shake  all  nations, 

and  *  the  desirable  things  of  all  nations  shall  come,  and 

I  will  fill  this  house  with  glory,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts. 

S  The  silver  is  mine,  and  the  gold  is  mine,  saith  the  Lord 

9  of  hosts.     The  latter  glory  of  this  house  shall  be  greater 

'^  Or,  the  things  desired  (Heb.  desire)  of  all  nations  shall  come 

of  in  the  next  verse  as  a  '  kingdom  which  cannot  be  shaken,' 
which  he  and  those  whom  he  is  addressing  have  received). 

7.  The  effects  of  this  'shaking'  upon  the  nations. 

the  desirable  thing's  of  all  nations  shall  come,  &c.  :  i.  e. 
their  costly  treasures  will  be  brought  to  beautify  the  Temple 
(cf.  V.  8).  The  thought  is  exactly  the  same  as  that  of  Is.  Ix.  5, 
where,  speaking  of  the  Temple  to  be  built  in  the  restored  city,  the 
prophet  says,  'The  abundance  of  the  sea  shall  be  turned  unto 
thee,  the  wealth  of  the  nations  shall  come  unto  thee^  (cf.  also  vv.  6,  7 
[RVm.],  II,  13).  For  the  word  rendered  desirable  (i.  e.  precious) 
things,  cf.  another  derivative  of  the  same  root  rendered  'precious' 
in  2  Chr.  xx,  25,  Dan.  xi.  43.  And  for  Zion,  as  the  future  spiritual 
metropolis  of  the  world,  cf.  Is.  ii.  2-4,  Zech.  viii.  21  f ,  xiv.  16. 

The  passage  is,  of  course,  '  Messianic '  in  the  broader  sense  of 
the  term  ;  but  the  old  rendering  (Vulg.  et  veniet  desideratus  cunctis 
gentibus:  AV.  and  the  desire  of  all  nations  shall  corne),  according 
to  which  it  had  specifically  a  personal  reference,  and  spoke  of  the 
coming  of  the  Messiah,  is  impossible  upon  grammatical  grounds : 
the  verb  '  shall  come '  is  in  the  Hebrew  plural,  showing  that  the 
subject  hemdath,  though  in  form  a  fem,  sing.,  is  really  a  collective 
term,  and  denotes  '  desirable  things ' :  see  in  the  Heb.  exactly 
similar  constructions  in  Jud.  ix.  55,  xv.  10  ;  Is.  xvi.  4 ;  Ps.  ix.  7, 
&c.,  and  as  here,  with  Zifem.  subject.  Is.  xxvi.  19;  Ps.  cxix.  103 
(cf.  G.-K.  §  145*^'*^).  The  LXX  already  render  correctly /cat  ^^ft 
ra.  (K\eKTa  iravTuv  tS)v  kOuwv. 

Z  will  All  this  house  with  glory.  It  is  tempting  to  think 
(with  some  older  commentators  and  Wellh.)  of  i  K.  viii.  10  f., 
and  to  refer  the  words  to  the  glory  of  the  Divine  presence  ;  but 
the  context  (y.  8,  as  well  as  v.  7 ")  rather  strongly  supports  the 
view  that  the  '  glory '  pictured  by  the  prophet  is  that  which  will 
accrue  to  it  from  the  offerings  of  the  nations  (cf.  Is.  Ix.  5-7,  13). 

8.  The  silver  is  mine,  &c.  The  'wealth  of  the  nations'  is 
Mine  ;  and  they  will  offer  to  Me  of  it  willingly  and  abundantly. 

9.  The  latter  jflory  of  this  house:  as  the  walls  built  by 
Solomon  were  probably,  at  least  in  part,  still  standing,  the  'house,' 
or  Temple,  of  which  they  were  to  form  part,  is  regarded  as  one 
and  the  same  as  the  previous  one  ;  cf.  the  same  expression  in  v.  3. 
The  latter  glory  of  the  Temple  will   be  greater  even  than  the 


HAGGAI  2.  10-12  163 

than  the  former,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts :  and  in  this 
place  will  I  give  peace,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts. 

In  the  four  and  twentieth  day  of  the  ninth  months  in  to 
the  second  year  of  Darius,  came  the  word  of  the  Lord 
by  Haggai  the  prophet,  saying.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  n 
hosts  :  Ask  now  the  priests  concerning  the  law,  saying,  If  12 
one  bear  holy  flesh  in  the  skirt  of  his  garment,  and  with 
his  skirt  do  touch  bread,  or  pottage,  or  wine,  or  oil,  or  any 

former  {v.  3),  on  account,  viz.  of  the  splendid  offerings  of  gold  and 
silver  made  to  it  by  the  nations.     Cf.  Tobit  xiv.  5. 

will  I  give  peace.  The  final  blessing.  Though  the  nations 
may  be  in  commotion  {vv.  6\  7*),  Jerusalem  will  enjoy  God- 
given  peace  (cf.  Is.  Ix.  i8).  Betw^een  this  prophecy  and  the  next 
{yv.  10-19),  spoken  two  months  afterwards,  falls  chronologically 
Zech.  i.  1-6  (in  the  eighth  month  of  Darius'  second  year). 

10-19.  Haggai  here  adopts  another  means  of  encouraging  the 
people  to  proceed  with  the  work  of  rebuilding  the  Temple,  by 
pointing  to  the  consequences  which  their  remissness  in  the  past 
had  brought  upon  them,  and  promising  that  henceforth  the  blessing 
of  Yahweh  should  rest  upon  them.  On  the  24th  of  the  ninth 
month  — three  months  after  work  had  begun  on  the  site  of  the 
Temple  (i.  14  f.),  and  two  months  after  the  last  prophecy  (ii.  r-9) 
—by  means  of  replies  elicited  from  the  priests  on  two  points  of 
ceremonial  observance,  he  teaches  the  people  that,  so  long  as 
the  Temple  remains  unbuilt,  they  are  as  men  that  are  unclean ; 
their  offerings  are  unacceptable;  and  hence  the  late  unfruitful 
seasons.  From  the  present  day,  however,  the  day  on  which  the 
foundation  of  the  Temple  was  laid,  Yahweh  promises  to  bless 
them. 

11.  Render:  Ask,  now,  direction  of  the  priests.  The  Heb. 
torah  (from  hordh,  to  point  out,  direct,  teach)  means  oral  direction 
given  by  the  priests  to  the  laity,  in  accordance  with  a  traditional 
body  of  principles  and  usages,  on  (principally)  points  of  ceremonial 
duty :  in  process  of  time  the  term  came  further  to  denote  a  body 
0/ technical  direction  (or  'law')  on  a  given  subject  (e.g.  on  leprosy, 
Lev.  xiv.  2,  32,  54,  57),  and  finally  to  denote  *  the  law,'  as  a  whole. 
Cf.  Jer.  xviii.  18  ^direction  will  not  perish  from  his  mouth  ' ;  Ez.  xliv. 
23  (cf.  Lev.  x.  ID,  xi.  47)  'They  shall  direct  my  people  (so  as  to 
discern)  between  the  holy  and  the  common,  and  make  them  to 
know  (the  difference)  between  the  unclean  and  the  clean  ' ;  Dt. 
xxiv.  8;   and  see  further  the  art.     *  Law'  in  DB.  (iii.  65). 

12.  holy  flesh.  The  flesh  of  a  sacrifice,  which  is  sacred  as 
belonging  to  Yahweh  :  so  Jer.  xi.  15  (RVm.). 

M    2 


1 64  HAGGAI  2.  13.15 

meat,  shall  it  become  holy?  And  the  priests  answered 

13  and  said,  No.  Then  said  Haggai,  If  one  that  is  unclean 
by  a  dead  body  touch  any  of  these,  shall  it  be  unclean  ? 
And  the  priests  answered  and  said,  It  shall  be  unclean. 

14  Then  answered  Haggai  and  said.  So  is  this  people,  and 
so  is  this  nation  before  me,  saith  the  Lord  ;  and  so  is 
every  work  of  their  hands ;  and  that  which  they  offer 

15  there  is  unclean.     And  now,  I  pray  you,  consider  from 

meat.     Rather,  food :  see  on  Hab.  i.  16. 

shall.     We  should  now  say,  will.     So  v.  13  (twice). 

13.  unclean  by  a  dead  body.  Ceremonially  '■  unclean,'  through 
contact  with,  or  even  proximity  to,  a  corpse  (Nu.  xix). 

it  will  be  unclean.  See  Nu.  xix.  22. 
What  was  ceremonially  '  holy '  hallowed  what  it  touched,  but 
not  more  (Lev.  vi.  27);  what  was  ceremonially  '  unclean  '  infected 
not  only  the  person  in  contact  with  it,  but  whatever  he  touched 
as  well  (Nu.  xix.  22) :  uncleanness  had  thus  a  greater  infectious 
power  than  holiness.     The  application  follows  in  v.  14. 

14.  So  it  is  with  the  people :  '  The  faint  aroma  of  sanctity, 
coming  from  their  altar  and  sacrifices,  was  too  indirect  and  feeble 
to  affect  and  pervade  the  secular  atmosphere  of  their  life  and 
circumstances — ^just  as  holy  flesh  carried  in  the  lap  will  not 
sanctify  what  the  lap  touches  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  work- 
a-day  worldliness  of  their  minds  and  life  infected  everything 
connected  with  them,  defiling  even  their  religious  actions — just  as 
one  unclean  from  touching  a  corpse  defiles  even  the  holiest  things 
when  he  comes  near  them '  (Davidson,  The  Exile  and  Restoration ^ 
p.  82).  The  lesson  is,  Less  worldliness,  more  holiness,  more 
thought  for  God  and  His  Temple. 

there.  A  contemptuous  reference  to  the  provisional  altar, 
which  had  been  erected  immediately  after  the  return  from  Babylon 
(Ezr.  iii.  3). 

15-19.  Let  the  people  lay  to  heart  their  remissness  in  making  no 
effort  to  rebuild  the  Temple  during  the  seventeen  years  which  had 
passed  since  their  return  from  Babylon  :  a  succession  of  infertile 
seasons  had  been  the  consequence  of  their  neglect ;  only  now, 
when  they  have  seriously  girded  themselves  to  the  work,  can 
God  promise  them  His  blessing.  This  is  clearly  the  general  sense 
of  the  passage  ;  but  parts  of  it  are  difficult,  and  have  been  very 
differently  understood.  To  the  present  writer  the  best  rendering 
appears  to  be  that  of  Nowack,  which  has  been  accepted  by  Wellh., 
in  his  third  edition  (1898),  in  preference  to  the  one  which  he  had 


HAGGAI  2.  15.  165 

this  day  and  upward,  from  before  a  stone  was  laid  upon 

adopted  previously  ^ ;  and  also  by  G.  A.  Cooke  (*  Haggai '  in  DB. 
ii.  280*'  «.),  and  Marti.  It  will  probably  conduce  to  clearness  if 
the  rendering  of  RV.  (which  is  also  that  of  Keil)  is  first  explained, 
and  then  that  of  Nowack  given  as  a  whole,  explanations  of  details 
being  added  afterwards. 

(i)  Explanation  of  RV. :  Consider  from  this  day  and  backwards, 
back  from  before  one  stone  was  laid  upon  another  in  the  Temple 
(i.e.  back  from  before  the  building  of  the  Temple  was  resumed,  three 
months  ago,  i.  14  f.)  ;  {v.  16  f.)  during  all  this  time  there  were  bad 
seasons  :  {v.  18)  consider  from  to-day  and  backwards,  [beginning 
now  at  the  other  end]  since  the  day  when  (sixteen  years  ago,  Ezr. 
iii.  10)  the  foundation  of  the  Temple  was  laid  :  {v.  19)  Is  the  seed 
[which  has  been  gathered]  still  in  the  barn  ?  [No :  the  scanty 
produce  has  all  been  consumed,]  yea,  the  vine,  &c.,  have  not 
brought  forth  (on  account  of  the  bad  seasons) :  from  this  day  (now 
that  the  work  of  rebuilding  the  Temple  has  begun  in  earnest)  I  will 
bless  you. 

Here  (a)  the  day  on  which  the  foundation  of  the  Temple  was 
laid  is  taken  to  have  been  in  the  year  after  the  return,  sixteen 
years  previously  ;  (6)  the  interpretation  of  '  upward  '  as  backwards 
is  questionable;  (c)  in  v.  18  the  rendering  'since'  {lit.  'from') 
implies  a  forced  exegesis ;  the  sudden  transition  from  the  end  to 
the  beginning  of  the  sixteen  years  is  awkward,  and  the  same  sense 
would  have  been  more  naturally  expressed  by  '  from  the  day  that 
the  foundation  of  the  Temple  was  laid  until  to-day,  consider  it*  (cf. 
G.  A.  Smith,  p.  248). 

(2)  As  rendered  by  Nowack  (except  in  one  or  two  minor 
points)  :  *  ^^  And  now,  I  pray  you,  consider  from  to-day  and 
onwards  !  Before  a  stone  was  laid  upon  a  stone  in  the  Temple  of 
Yahweh  [i.  e.  before  to-day],  ^^  how  did  ye  fare  ?  when  one  came 
to  a  heap  of  twenty  se'ahs,  there  were  but  ten ;  when  one  came 
to  the  wine-vat  to  draw  off  fifty  trough-fulls,  there  were  but 
twenty.  ^"^  I  smote  you  with  blasting  and  with  mildew  and  with 
hail,  (even)  all  the  work  of  j'our  hands  ;  yet  were  ye  not  (disposed) 
towards  me,  saith  Yahweh.  ^^  Consider,  I  pray  j'ou,  from  to-day 
and  onwards  [resuming -y.  15*] :  (yea,)  from  the  four  and  twentieth 
day  of  the  ninth  (month),  from  the  day  on  which  the  foundation  of 
Yahweh's  Temple  has  been  laid  [i.e.  from  to-day],  consider! 
'*  Is  the  seed  [to  be  sown]  still  in  the  barn  [viz.  in  the  future, 
which  the  prophet  here  has  in  mind]  ?  do  the  vine,  and  the  fig 
tree,  and  the  pomegranate,  and  the  olive  tree  still  [i3?for  nr]  not 
bear  ?  [No  :  they  will  then  bear ;  for  prosperity  will  have  returned] : 
from  this  day  I  will  bless  you  ! ' 

'  See  for  this  Smith,  pp.  247  f.,  who  substantially  follows  it. 


i66  HAGGAI  2.  i6 

1 6  a  stone  in  the  temple  of  the  Lord:  «^ through  all  that 
time,  when  one  came  to  an  heap  of  twenty  vieasures, 
there  were  but  ten ;  when  one  came  to  the  winefat  for  to 

*  Heb.  since  those  days  were. 

Here  the  day  on  which  the  foundation  of  the  Temple  was  laid 
is  taken  to  be  the  day  on  which  Haggai  is  speaking.  The  other 
variations  from  the  sense  expressed  by  RV.  will  be  apparent  from 
the  translation  :  see  also  the  following  notes,  and  p.  170. 

15.  this  day.  The  day  on  which  the  prophet  is  speaking,  the 
24th  of  the  ninth  month  (Chislev  [Zech.  vii.  i]  =  Nov.-Dec.). 

and  upward.  This  is  the  crucial  word  in  the  interpretation 
of  the  passage.  Everywhere  else  the  expression  means  'and 
omvards '  (i  S.  xvi.  13,  xxx.  25  ;  and  in  the  formula,  '  from  [  twenty] 
years  old  and  upwards^^  i.  e.  and  onwards^  Nu.  i.  3,  and  often)  ; 
and  it  is  very  doubtful  whether,  here  and  v.  18,  it  can  be  rightly 
understood  in  the  opposite  sense  of  backwards.  Nowack  under- 
stands  the  expression  in  the  sense  that  we  should  expect  it  to  have 
from  the  analogy  of  its  other  occurrences. 

16.  In  consequence  of  the  poor  crops,  both  harvest  and  vintage 
had  yielded  much  less  than  had  been  expected. 

throngh  all  that  time.  Heb.  since  they  were, — an  incredible 
expression  for  'through  all  that  time.'  The  text  is  beyond  ques- 
tion corrupt :  the  emendation  of  Matthes,  how  did  ye  fare  ?  (///. 
'what  did  ye  become? '),  suggested  by  the  LXX  (rtVcs  ^tc;),  and 
adopted  by  Nowack,  implies  merely  nn^  n  no  for  cnvno. 

twenty  measures.  Read  with  LXX  {para)  twenty  seahs  ; 
the  same  word  is  also  supplied  by  Rashi  and  Kimchi.  The  's6'ah' 
was  the  third  of  an  ephah,  and  equal  to  about  2f  gallons  :  it  is 
often  in  EVV.  concealed  under  the  colourless  'measure'  (Gen.  xviii. 
6  ;  I  S.  XXV.  18 ;  i  K.  xviii.  32;  2  K.  vii.  i  ;  Mt.  xiii.  33  [(tqtoi/]  ). 

winefat.  '  Fat '  is  here  an  archaism  for  vat  (Germ,  fass, 
Icel. /a^,  A.-S./o?/),  as  elsewhere  in  EVV.,  viz.  Joel  ii.  24,  iii.  13, 
Is.  Ixii.  2,  Prov.  iii.  10  RV.,  Is.  v.  2  RVm.,  Mark  xii.  i  AV.,  Hos. 
ix.  2  AVm.  (cf.  Antony  and  Cleop.  ii.  7,  22,  cited  by  Aldis 
Wright,  Bible  IVord-Book,  s.v.  Fat).  The  'wine-vat'  was  the 
receptacle  in  which  the  juice,  trodden  out  by  the  feet  of  men 
in  the  'wine-press,'  was  collected.  Both  were  commonly  cavities 
hewn  out  in  the  rock  (cf.  Is.  v.  2)  at  different  levels,  the  upper 
one,  the  gath  or  the  wine-press,  having  the  larger  superficial 
area,  the  lower  one,  the  yekeb  or  wine-vat,  the  greater  depth  ;  the 
juice  expressed  in  the  gath  flowed  down  into  the  yekeb  through 
a  connecting  channel.  Many  remains  of  ancient  wine-presses 
and  wine-vats  have  been  found  in  Palestine :  see  Rob.  BR.  iii. 
137  (here  the  gath  was  8  ft.  square  and  15  inches  deep,  the  ye^eb 


HAGGAI  2.  17,  18  167 

draw  out  fifty  vessels,  there  were  but  twenty.     I  smote  17 
you  with  blasting  and  with  mildew  and  with  hail  in  all 
the  work  of  your  hands ;  yet  ye  turned  not  to  me,  saith 
the  Lord.     Consider,  I  pray  you,  from  this  day  and  18 

4  ft.  square  and  3  ft.  deep),  381 ;  EB.  iv.  5312  (with  a  plan  and 
sectional  drawings). 

to  draw  out.  Rather,  to  bale  out, — the  word  meaning  to  scoop 
or  ladle  off  from  the  top ;  cf.  Is.  xxx.  14  '  a  potsherd  ...  to  bale  out 
water  from  a  cistern.'  Indeed,  this  would  be  the  only  way  in 
which  a  cavity  sunk  in  the  rock  could  be  emptied. 

fifty  vessels.  Heb.  ^  ^{iy  ptlrdhs'' or  trough-fulls, — 'purah* 
meaning  a  wine-trough,  and  being  in  Is.  Ixiii.  3  a  syn.  of  the  '  wine- 
press,'  and  so,  it  is  supposed,  signif^nng  here  the  measure  of  juice 
which  was  generally  obtained  from  one  filling  of  the  press  with 
grapes.  But  the  expression  is  rather  strange ;  and  perhaps, 
supposing  a  letter  to  have  fallen  out,  we  should  read,  with  We. 
(and  AV. !)  'to  draw  off  fift}--  (seahs) /rom  the  wine-troughy'' — 
'■  purdh'  being  here  in  this  case  a  synonym  of  the  '  wine-t/a^' 

17.  I  smote  you  witli  blasting-  and  with  mildew.    A  reminis- 
cence of  Am.  iv.  9  ;  see  also  Dt.  xxviii.  22,  i  K.  viii.  37. 

blasting:  i.  e.  the  blasting  of  the  sirocco  (cf.  Gen.  xli.  6, 
where  the  'east  wind,' — as  indeed  always  in  the  OT., —  means 
the  sirocco  M,  a  hot  and  scorching  wind  which  in  Palestine  is  apt 
to  blow  up  with  great  suddenness  and  violence  from  the  desert, 
withering  and  burning  the  growing  corn  so  that  no  animal  will 
touch  it,  and  described  by  travellers  as  striking  the  face  like  a  blast 
from  a  furnace. 

mildew :  i.  e.  a  blight  causing  the  ears  to  turn  a  pale  yellow, 
and  yield  no  grain.  The  Heb.  word  signifies  (pale  and  unhealthy) 
greenness. 

and  with  hail,  (even)  all  the  work  of  your  hands:  i.e. 
your  undertakings,  especially  your  agricultural  enterprises  (cf. 
Dt.  xvi.  15,  xxviii.  12).  For  the  destructive  effects  of  hail,  cf.  Ex. 
ix.  25,  26,  Ps.  Ixxviii.  47. 

yet  were  ye  not  towards  me :  i.  e.  were  not  disposed 
towards  me  (2  K.  vi.  11,  Hos.  iii.  3,  Ez.  xxxvi.  9  '  1  am  towards 
you ').  The  Heb.  here  is  peculiar  :  it  is  varied  from  '  yet  ye 
returned  not  unto  me'  in  Am.  iv.  9  (also  vv.  6,  8,  10,  11),  just 
referred  to.  It  is  best  explained  philologically  by  Wellh.  The 
correction  cnic?  s'^i  is  violent. 

18.  See  the  alternative  explanations  of  this  verse  above,  p.  165. 
On   the  difficult  question  of  the  date  of  the  foundation  of  the 

*  'Sirocco'  is  itself  merely  a  corruption  of  the  kxd\iK.  sherkiyehy 
'eastern.' 


i68  HAGGAI  2.  19-22 

upward,  from  the  four  and  twentieth  day  of  the  ninth 
months  since  the  day  that  the  foundation  of  the  Lord's 

19  temple  was  laid,  consider  it.  Is  the  seed  yet  in  the 
barn?  yea,  the  vine,  and  the  fig  tree,  and  the  pome- 
granate, and  the  oHve  tree  hath  not  brought  forth ;  from 
this  day  will  I  bless  ^6?«. 

20  And  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  the  second  time 
unto  Haggai  in  the  four  and  twentieth  day  of  the  month, 

2 1  saying,  Speak  to  Zerubbabel;  governor  of  Judah,  saying,  I 
2  2  will  shake  the  heavens  and  the  earth :  and  I  will  over- 
Second  Temple,  see  p  147  f.,  where  it  is  shown  that,  though  there  is 
some  conflict  of  authorities,  it  is  on  the  whole  most  probable  that 
the  ceremony  did  take  place  in  536,  but,  as  it  was  not  followed 
by  any  actual  building  opei-ations  till  Haggai  and  Zechariah 
induced  the  people  to  proceed  with  the  work  in  520,  it  came  to  be 
ignored,  and  the  twenty-fourth  day  of  the  ninth  month  in  520  was 
treated  as  the  day  on  which  the  foundation  of  the  Temple  was 
really  and  effectively  laid. 

19.  On  the  two  different  interpretations  of  which  this  verse 
(as  far  as  '  brought  forth ')  is  susceptible,  see  also  p.  165. 

yea.  The  Heb.  is  unusual;  but  the  rendering  '  yea '  or  '  even  ' 
may  be  defended  by  i  S.  ii.  5,  Job  xxv.  5.  Nowack's  rendering 
<  still '  implies  only  the  change  of  a  vowel  point. 

from  this  day  I  will  bless  you  :  now  that  the  people  have 
set  themselves  earnestly  to  the  work  of  restoration,  a  blessing  is 
promised. 

20-23.  Conclusion.  A  second  prophecy,  delivered  on  the  same 
day  as  the  last,  and  addressed  specially  to  Zerubbabel,  in  which 
the  prophet  develops  further  the  thoughts  expressed  by  him  two 
months  previously  (ii.  6  f. ;  see  ii.  i)  ;  and  promises  Zerubbabel 
that  on  the  approaching  overthrow  of  the  powers  of  the  world, 
which  is  to  inaugurate  the  Messianic  age,  his  position  will  remain 
secure,  and  Yahweh  will  constitute  him  His  trusted  representative. 
The  thought  of  the  approaching  downfall  of  the  powers  opposed 
to  Israel  appears  also  in  Zechariah  (see  i.  15,  21,  ii.  9,  vi.  8)  :  for 
the  honour  and  distinction  vouchsafed  to  Zerubbabel,  see  also 
Zech.  iv.  7-10,  and  cf.  on  Zech.  vi.  13. 

21.  g-overnor  of  Judah.     See  on  i.  i. 

I  will  shake  (Heb.  am  shaking)  the  heavens  and  the  earth. 
As  ii.  6.     The  participle,  of  the  imminent  future,  as  Nah.  ii.  2. 

22.  The  political  aspect  of  the  approaching  crisis  is  developed 
here  more  fully  and  distinctly  than  in  ii.  6  f. 


HAGGAI  2.  23  169 

throw  the  throne  of  kingdoms,  and  I  will  destroy  the 
strength  of  the  kingdoms  of  the  nations ;  and  I  will 
overthrow  the  chariots,  and  those  that  ride  in  them  ;  and 
the  horses  and  their  riders  shall  come  down,  every  one 
by  the  sword  of  his  brother.  In  that  day,  saith  the  23 
Lord  of  hosts,  will  I  take  thee,  O  Zerubbabel,  my  servant, 
the  son  of  Shealtiel,  saith  the  Lord,  and  will  make  thee 
as  a  signet :  for  I  have  chosen  thee,  saith  the  Lord  of 
hosts. 

the  strength  of  the  kingdoms :  i.  e.  their  chariots,  horses, 
fortresses,  and  other  military  resources. 

come  down  :  i.  e.  be  struck  down.  Cf.  Is.  xxxiv.  7  ;  Jer.  xlviii. 
15,  1.  27  (where  *  come  down '  has  the  same  meaning)  ;  Zech.  xi. 
2  end. 

every  one,  &c.  Thej'  will  fall  by  one  another's  hands, — 
either  through  a  panic  seizing  them  or  through  quarrels  breaking 
out  among  them.  Cf.  Jud.  vii.  22  ;  Ez.  xxxviii.  21  ;  Zech.  xiv.  13. 
23.  The  promise  to  Zerubbabel  :  Yahweh  will  make  him  His 
signet-ring,  inseparable  from  Himself,  and  the  symbol  of  His 
authority. 

as  a  signet.  The  signet  in  the  ancient  East  was  a  mark  of 
honour  and  distinction,  and  was  given  by  a  monarch  to  an 
important  minister,  as  a  mark  of  confidence  and  authority  (cf. 
Gen.  xli.  42  ;  Est.  iii.  10).  For  the  figure,  as  here  used,  cf.  Jer. 
xxii.  24 ;  and  observe  that  the  honourable  position  from  which  it 
is  there  said  that  Yahweh  would  degrade  Jehoiachin  is  here 
conferred  by  Haggai  upon  his  grandson  (see  on  i.  i),  Zerubbabel. 
The  Messianic  aspirations  which  attached  formerly  to  the  Davidic 
king  are  transferred  by  Haggai  to  Zerubbabel,  who  becomes,  in 
virtue  of  the  position  thus  assigned  to  him,  a  type  of  Christ. 

I  have  chosen  thee:  viz.  to  be  the  Messianic  ruler  of  the 
future  :  cf.  Zech.  vi.  9-13,  with  the  notes. 

chosen.  As  Saul  or  David,  for  instance,  had  been  'chosen' 
in  the  past,  i  S.  x.  24,  i  K.  viii.  16,  xi.  34  al. 


lyo 


Additional  Note  on  ii.   i8. 

It  is  no  doubt  strange  to  find  the  date  specified  in  a  prophecy 
delivered  on  the  very  day  itself;  and  hence  it  is  possible  that  the 
words  *  from  the  four  and  twentieth  day  of  the  ninth  month '  in 
this  verse  are  a  gloss  derived  from  v.  lo.  Wellh.,  Nowack,  and 
Marti  go  further,  and  reject  the  following  clause,  '  since  the  day ' 
&c.,  as  well,  regarding  it  also  as  a  gloss,  based  upon  an  incorrect 
explanation  of  v.  15.  But  for  this  view  there  are  no  sufficient 
grounds :  if  the  clause  be  omitted,  not  only  is  no  date  mentioned 
for  the  foundation  of  the  Temple,  but  the  stress  laid  upon  *  this 
day '  in  vv.  15,  18,  19,  as  marking  a  change  in  Yahweh's  attitude 
towards  the  people  (t/.  19''),  remains  unaccounted  for. 


ZECHARIAH 


INTRODUCTION 

AND 

REVISED  VERSION  WITH   ANNOTATIONS 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE 

Hag.  i  .     .     .     .  Second  year  of  Darius,  6th  month. 

Hag.  ii.  1-9    .     .  ,,            ,,            ,,  7th  month. 

Zech.  i.  1-6    .     .  ,,            ,,            „  8th  month. 

Hag,  ii.  10-23     .  ,,            „             „  9th  month. 

Zech.  i.  7 — vi.  15  ,,             „            ,,  nth  month. 

Zech.  vii-viii  .     .  Fourth  year  of  Darius,  9th  month. 


f 


ZECHARIAH  I-VIII 

INTRODUCTION 

ZECHARIAH,  son  of  Berechiah,  and  grandson  of  Iddo, 
of  priestly  descent  (Neh.  xii.  4,  16),  prophesied,  accord- 
ing to  i.  1-7,  and  vii.  i,  in  the  second  and  fourth  years  of 
Darius  Hystaspis  (b.  c.  520  and  518).  He  was  thus  a  con- 
temporary of  Haggai ;  and  he  is  unquestionably  identical 
with  the  Zechariah,  son  of  Iddo,  who  is  named  in  Ezr. 
V.  I,  vi.  14  as  co-operating  with  Haggai  in  his  efforts 
to  induce  the  people  to  prosecute  the  work  of  rebuilding 
the  Temple. 

The  historical  situation  in  520  B.  c.  has  been  sufficiently 
described  in  the  Introduction  to  Haggai.  To  recapitulate 
briefly  what  was  there  stated  in  greater  detail :  in  the  first 
year  of  Cyrus,  B.  C.  537,  a  large  body  of  exiles  returned 
from  Babylon  to  Judah ;  they  settled  down  in  their  old 
homes,  but,  partly  from  the  difficulty  of  bringing  the  land 
again  into  cultivation,  partly  from  a  succession  of  bad 
seasons,  and  partly  from  troubles  arising  from  their 
neighbours,  the  people  fell  into  a  state  of  apathy  and 
despondency ;  and  though  the  work  of  rebuilding  the  new 
Temple  had  been  begun  formally  in  536,  nothing  further 
had  been  done  to  it  till  Haggai,  two  months  before 
Zechariah's  opening  prophecy  (i.  1-6),  succeeded  in 
stirring  up  the  people  to  resume  the  work  (Hag.  i.  14, 
15).  A  month  later,  Haggai  had  allayed  the  doubts  of 
those  who  questioned  whether  the  new  Temple  would 
ever  be  comparable  to  the  old  with  the  promise  that  the 
latter  glory  of  the  house  should  exceed  its  former  glor}', 
on  account,  viz.,  of  the  treasures  which  the  nations  would 


174  ZECHARIAH  I-VIII 

offer  for  its  adornment  (Hag.  ii.  1-9).     In  the  following 
month  Zechariah  begins  to  prophesy. 

Zechariah's  prophecies  fall  into  three  clearly-defined 
parts,  which  may  be  headed  respectively:  (i)  A  call  to 
repentance  (i.  1-6) ;  (2)  Visions  of  hope  and  encourage- 
ment for  Judah  (i.  7 — vi.  15) ;  (3)  Yahweh's  promises  and 
demands  for  the  future  (chs.  vii-viii). 

I.  i.  1-6  (eighth  month  of  Darius*  second  year).  A  call  to 
repentance,  as  the  first  condition  of  the  return  of  Yahweh's 
favour,  which  the  people  thought  had  for  ever  left  them. 

II.  i.  7 — vi.  15  (three  months  later,  and  two  months  after 
Hag.  ii.  10-23).  Visions  of  hope  and  encouragement  for 
Judah  (i.  7 — vi.  8),  with  a  closely  related  historical  appen- 
dix (vi.  9-15).  This  forms  the  central  and  most  charac- 
teristic part  of  Zechariah's  prophecy.  The  visions  all 
centre  upon  the  great  questions  of  the  day :  what  were 
the  prospects  of  Judah  for  the  future  ?  how  did  she  stand 
towards  her  heathen  neighbours  ?  would  the  Temple  ever 
be  finished  ?  They  form  a  well-arranged  whole,  showing 
how  Yahweh's  promises  to  His  people  will  be  fulfilled, 
and  how  the  various  obstacles,  whether  from  without  or 
within,  which  seem  destined  to  thwart  them,  will  one 
after  another  be  removed.  The  answers  given  to  these 
questions  are  not  mere  temporal  promises :  they  all 
contain  a  large  ideal  or  'Messianic'  element,  which 
differs  from  the  corresponding  element  in  previous  pro- 
phets only  in  being  determined  by,  and  accommodated 
to,  the  historical  conditions  of  the  time. 

The^^rs/"  vision  (i.  7-17).  Yahweh's  Four  Horsemen.  Yah- 
weh's horsemen,  who  act  as  scouts  or  patrols,  report  that  the 
earth  is  at  rest :  there  is  no  sign  of  any  movement  among  the 
nations,  such  as  Haggai,  a  few  months  before  (ii.  6  f.,  21  f.),  had 
declared  would  within  '  a  little  while '  bring  in  the  Messianic 
age  :  but  Yahweh  assures  the  prophet  that  He  is  still,  as  of 
old,  jealous  for  His  people,  and  ere  long  Jerusalem  and  the 
cities  of  Judah  will  be  rebuilt,  and  His  people  again  be  pros- 
perous. 

The  5^co«(5^  vision  (i.  18-21).    The  Four  Horns  and  the  Four 


INTRODUCTION  175 

Smiths.  Four  horns,  symbolizing  the  nations  opposed  to 
Israel,  have  their  power  broken  by  four  smiths. 

The  third  vision  (ii.  1-5).  The  Man  with  the  Measuring- 
Line.  The  new  Jerusalem  is  to  have  no  walls;  for  its  popula- 
tion is  to  be  free  to  spread  far  and  wide,  and  Yahweh  will  be 
its  sufficient  defence.  In  a  lyric  epilogue,  attached  to  the 
vision  (ii.  6-13),  the  prophet  calls  upon  the  Jews  still  in 
Babylon  to  hasten  and  return ;  for  Yahweh  is  about  to  take 
up  His  abode  in  Zion,  and  many  peoples  will  join  themselves 
to  Him. 

The  fourth  vision  (ch.  iii).  The  High-Priest,  Joshua,  and 
the  Satan.  The  calamities  which  continued  to  beset  the 
people  seemed  to  them  an  indication  that  there  was  still  some 
sin  clinging  to  them,  which  was  an  obstacle  to  their  complete 
restoration  to  Yahweh's  favour,  and  the  advent  of  the  promised 
future.  By  the  vision  of  the  high-priest,  Joshua,  representing 
the  people,  accused  by  the  Satan,  but  acquitted,  and  clothed 
in  clean  garments,  it  is  shown  that  this  sin  is  done  away 
with  ;  and  a  promise  is  added  of  the  speedy  advent  of  the 
Messiah,  and  of  the  consummation  of  national  felicity. 

Thejifth  vision  (ch.  iv).  The  Seven-Branched  Candlestick, 
and  the  Two  Olive-Trees.  Whatever  the  candlestick  may  be 
taken  to  signify  (see  the  notes),  this  vision  shows  that  the 
community  presided  over  by  Zerubbabel  and  Joshua  is  ever 
under  the  watchful  care  of  Yahweh's  eyes ;  and  that  Zerubbabel, 
in  spite  of  difficulties,  will  successfully  complete  the  building 
of  the  Temple- 

The  sixth  vision  (v.  1-4).  The  Flying  Roll.  The  land  to  be 
purged  of  sinners.  A  roll,  inscribed  with  curses,  ffies  over  the 
Holy  Land,  as  a  token  that  in  future  the  curse  for  sin  will 
never  fail  to  light  upon  the  sinner. 

The  seventh  vision  (v.  5-1 1).  The  Woman  in  the  Barrel. 
The  land  to  be  purged  of  sin.  Israel's  sin,  personified  as  a 
woman,  is  carried  off  in  a  barrel,  and  deposited  in  Babylonia, 
where  for  the  future  it  is  to  remain. 

The  eighth  vision  (vi.  1-8).  The  Four  Chariots.  Four 
chariots,  drawn  by  variously- coloured  horses,  go  forth  to 
execute  God's  judgements  upon  the  heathen,  in  different  parts 
of  the  earth,  especially  in  Babylonia. 

vi.  9-15.  Historical  Appendix.  A  crown  to  be  made  of  the 
gold  and  silver  which  some  of  the  exiles  had  sent  as  an 
offering  to  the  Temple,  and  placed  on  the  head  of  Zerubbabel*, 
who  is  to  complete  the  building  of  the  Temple,  and  be  the 
Messianic  ruler  of  the  future,  with  Joshua  as  priest  at  his 
side. 


See  the  note  on  vi.  11. 


176  ZECHARIAH  I-VIII 

III.  Chs.  vii-viii  (two  years  afterwards,  in  Darius'  fourth 
year,  B.  c  518).  Yahweh's  promises,  and  moral  demands, 
for  the  future.  Zechariah,  in  answer  to  an  inquiry 
addressed  to  him  (vii.  1-3),  declares  that  Yahweh  de- 
mands no  fasts,  but  only  the  observance  of  His  moral 
commands,  which  their  forefathers,  to  their  cost,  had 
neglected  (vii.  4-14).  And  he  ends  his  Book  with  a 
decalogue  of  promises  (ch.  viii),  describing  the  happy  days 
in  store  for  Judah,  if  only  it  will  satisfy  Yahweh's  moral 
demands. 

The  most  characteristic  feature  of  Zechariah's  pro- 
phecies are  the  visions.  The  vision  was  a  frequent  mode 
of  prophetic  intuition  in  Israel  (cf.  Hos.  xii.  10  ;  Am.  vii-ix ; 
Is.  vi ;  Jer.  i,  xxiv) ;  but,  in  the  prophecies  which  we  still 
possess,  it  is  most  fully  represented  in  the  Books  of  Ezekiel 
and  Zechariah.  The  vision  is  a  projection  or  creation 
of  the  mind,  analogous  to  the  dream :  the  subject  falls 
into  a  state  of  trance,  or  ecstasy,  in  which  the  channels 
connecting  the  brain  with  external  objects  are  closed ; 
the  power  of  the  will  to  guide  thought  is  relaxed  :  on  the 
other  hand,  the  hnagination^  or  faculty  of  combining 
images  and  ideas,  which  have  been  previously  apprehended, 
into  new  forms,  is  abnormally  active ;  and  the  pictures 
created  by  it  stand  out  the  more  vividly,  in  the  absence 
of  the  sharper  impressions  produced  in  a  waking  state  of 
the  senses.  Psychologically  the  vision  may  thus  be 
described  as  a  combination  into  new  forms,  under  the 
influence  of  some  determining  impulse,  of  the  images  and 
impressions  with  which  the  mind,  through  its  waking 
experience,  is  stored.  In  a  prophetic  vision  the  determin- 
ing impulse  will  have  been  due  to  the  operation  of  the 
revealing  Spirit :  Zechariah,  we  may  suppose,  had  been 
brooding  over  the  condition  and  prospects  of  his  people : 
the  restoration  of  God's  favour,  the  triumph  over  the 
heathen,  the  completion  of  the  Temple,  to  be  followed 
immediately  by  the  advent  of  the  Messianic  age,  the 
position  to  be  taken  in  it  by  Joshua  and  Zerubbabel,  and 


INTRODUCTION  177 

the  felicity  and  sinlessness  which  would  then  be  the 
nation's  lot— these  and  kindred  subjects  had  been  long  in 
his  mind :  he  had,  perhaps,  thought  of  some  of  them 
in  connexion  with  the  same  figures  and  imagery  with 
which  they  appear  associated  in  the  visions;  and  the 
visions  exhibit  the  shape  which  they  ultimately  took  in 
his  imagination.  How  some  of  the  same  subjects  are 
treated  by  him  without  the  concomitants  of  a  vision  may 
be  seen  in  vi.  9-15,  and  in  chs.  vii-viii :  the  predomi- 
nant ideas  are  still  clearly  the  same. 

It  remains,  however,  a  question  whether  in  the  case  of 
Zechariah,  whose  visions  in  some  cases  are  much  more 
circumstantial  than  those  of  the  earlier  prophets,  we  have 
throughout  the  narration  of  actual  visions,  and  not  rather 
(G.  A.  Smith,  p.  274)  '  a  series  of  conscious  and  artistic 
allegories— the  deliberate  translation  into  a  carefully  con- 
structed symbolism  of  the  Divine  truths  with  which  the 
prophet  was  entrusted  by  his  God.'  At  least  in  part,  the 
visions  may  well  be  not  more  than  literary  forms.  And  if 
we  ask  further  why  a  man  'with  such  gifts  of  direct 
speech,  such  a  keen  desire  to  stir  the  public  conscience ' 
(see  i.  2-6,  vii-viii),  and  'such  clear  views  of  his  people's 
character  and  history,'  should  choose  to  express  the  latter 
by  an  imagery  so  artificial  and  involved,  we  may  per- 
haps answer  with  the  same  writer  that  this,  if  partly  a 
result  of  the  natural  bent  of  the  prophet's  mind,  was 
partly  also  a  result  of  the  circumstances  of  his  time  :  '  the 
exiles  were  not  responsible  citizens  or  statesmen,  but 
dreamers.  They  were  inspired  by  mighty  hopes  for  the 
future,  and  not  fettered  by  the  practical  necessities  of  a 
definite  historical  situation  upon  which  these  hopes  had 
to  be  immediately  realized.'  They  consequently  gave  the 
reins  to  their  imagination,  and  threw  the  truths  which 
they  were  inspired  to  discern  into  symbolic  pictures  care- 
fully elaborated  in  all  their  details. 

A  standing  feature  in  Zechariah's  visions  is  the  presence 
in  them  of  angels.  In  the  visions  of  the  earlier  prophets 
N 


178  ZECHARIAH  I -VIII 

(Am.  vii-ix;  Jer.  i,  xxiv)  angels  do  not  appear  ;  whatever  is 
said  or  done,  Yahweh  Himself  is  the  speaker  or  doer  ;  the 
only  exceptions  being  i  K.  xxii.  19  ff.,  and  Is.  vi,  where, 
in  the  representation  of  Yahweh's  celestial  court,  angelic 
beings  are  naturally  present.  But  in  Ezekiel's  visions 
angels,  there  regularly  called  'men,'  are  a  frequent 
feature :  some  execute  Yahweh's  judgement  upon  Jeru- 
salem (Ez.  ix.  I  — x.  6) ;  and  another,  in  Ezekiel's  vision  of 
the  restored  Temple  (Ez.  xl-xlviii),  conducts  the  prophet 
through  the  different  parts,  measures  them,  and  explains  the 
details  to  him  (Ez.  xl.  3,  4,  5,  &c.).  In  Zechariah's  visions 
angels  are  a  constant  feature :  Zechariah  never  sees 
Yahweh,  or  is  spoken  to  by  Him  directly.  And  so  in  his 
book  we  have  the  '  man  that  talked  with  me,'  the  interpret- 
ing angel  who  explains  the  visions  to  the  prophet  (i.  13, 14, 
19,  ii.  3,  iv.  I,  4,  5,  V.  [2,  3,]  10,  vi.4),  and  we  have  besides 
the  *  man '  riding  the  red  horse  in  i.  8,  *  another  angel ' 
in  ii.  3,  and  'Yahweh's  angel '  himself  in  i.  11,  12,  iii.  i, 
2  [see  note],  3,  5,  6.  This  predominance  of  angels  in  the 
visions  of  Ezekiel  and  Zechariah  is  due,  probably,  to  a 
changed  conception  of  the  method  by  which  Yahweh 
operated  in  the  world.  The  earlier  prophets  had  such  a 
vivid  sense  of  Yahweh's  personal  and  practical  interest  in 
the  affairs  of  His  people  that  they  were  conscious  of  no 
need  for  the  intermediate  agency  of  angels :  but  with 
Ezekiel  there  arose  an  increased  sense  of  the  loftiness 
of  God,  and  of  the  distance  separating  Him  from  earth  ; 
and  so  in  Zech.  iii,  for  instance,  when  Joshua  and  the 
Satan  appear  before  the  Divine  tribunal,  judgement  is  given 
by  'the  angel  of  Yahweh,'  who,  as  in  the  older  historical 
books,  '  though  distinct  from  Yahweh,  yet  represents  Him 
so  directly  and  fully  that  when  he  speaks  or  acts  Yahweh 
Himself  is  felt  to  speak  or  act '  ^ :  elsewhere,  if  the  material 
details  of  a  vision  have  to  be  explained,  this  is  done  by  a 
'  man,'  i.  e.  by  an  angelic  being,  acting  on  Yahweh's  behalf, 

*  W.  R.  Smith,  art.  'Angel'  in  the  Encycl.  Bntannica,     Cf. 
A.  B.  Davidson,  art.  <  Angel '  in  DB.,  p.  94^ 


INTRODUCTION  179 

but  of  a  decidedly  lower  rank  than '  the  angel  of  Yahvveh,' 
and  by  no  means  representing  Him  with  the  same  fullness 
or  authority  ^     On  the  '  Satan,'  see  on  iii.  I. 

Of  Zechariah's  eight  visions,  three,  the  first  two  (i.  7-17, 
18-21)  and  the  last  (vi.  1-8),  deal  with  the  relation  of  Israel 
to  the  heathen  world  without.  In  his  method  of  deahng 
with  this  relation  we  observe  a  further  difference  between 
Zechariah  and  the  older  prophets.  The  older  prophets, — 
Amos,  Hosea,  Isaiah,  and  Jeremiah,  for  instance,— have 
always  in  view  the  actual  nations,  the  Assyrians  or  the 
Chaldaeans,  as  the  case  may  be,  who  are  threatening  Israel 
at  the  time  when  they  are  writing:  Zechariah,  developing 
a  line  of  treatment  which  had  begun  with  Zephaniah  and 
Ezekiel  (chs.  xxxviii-xxxix),  deals  with  heathen  powers 
in  the  abstract :  their  overthrow  is  predicted ;  but  what 
powers  are  intended,  and  by  what  historical  movements 
they  are  to  be  destroyed,  does  not  appear :  the  prophet 
employs  indefinite  symbolical  or  apocalyptic  represen- 
tations,— angelic  horsemen  patrolling  the  earth  in  i.  8-1 1, 
'  horns '  and  '  smiths '  in  i.  18-21,  and  '  chariots '  carrying 
God's  wrath  into  different  quarters  of  the  earth  in  vi.  1-8. 
This,  again,  is  a  peculiarity  connected  with  the  same 
absence  of  a  definite  political  situation  remarked  upon 
above.  It  was  necessary  to  assure  the  people  that  Israel, 
and  the  kingdom  of  God  which  it  represented,  would  not 
succumb  before  the  powers  of  the  world :  but  there  being 
no  dangers  actually  threatening  it,  Zechariah  conveys  this 
assurance  through  symbolical  representations  of  the  means 
employed  by  God  for  its  protection.  In  the  peculiar 
character  of  their  symbolism  the  visions  of  Zechariah 
prepare  the  way  for  the  symbolical  representations  of  the 
later  Apocalypses,  Daniel,  Enoch,  2  Esdras,  &c. 

The  remaining  five  visions  (chaps,  ii-v)  deal  with 
the  future  of  Israel  itself  as  a  nation.  Zechariah,  as 
we  have  seen,  was  of  priestly  descent;    and  this  no 

^  See  further  G.  A.  Smith's  chapter  on  '  The  Angels  of  the 
Visions,'  p.  310  ff. 

N2 


i8o  ZECHARIAH  I-VIII 

doubt  accounts  to  a  certain  extent  for  the  prominence 
which  the  Temple,  and  the  high-priest,  assume  in  his 
outlook  into  the  future.  But  the  completion  of  the  Temple 
was  the  pressing  question  of  the  day :  Ezekiel  had  seen 
in  vision  (x.  i8  f.,  xi.  23),  shortly  before  the  destruction 
of  Jerusalem,  Yahweh  leave  the  Temple ;  he  had  after- 
wards (chaps,  xl  fif.)  made  elaborate  provision  for  its 
restoration,  and  had  also  in  vision  seen  Yahweh  solemnly 
re-enter  it  (xliii.  4,  5).  Without  a  Temple  God  could  not 
dwell  in  the  midst  of  His  people,  and  the  national 
restoration  was  incomplete.  Haggai  and  Zechariah  both 
urged  upon  the  people  the  duty  of  hastening  on  the  re- 
storation of  the  Temple.  To  its  completion  they  attached, 
as  other  prophets  had  done  to  the  great  coming  events 
of  their  day,  ideal  hopes.  Isaiah,  for  instance,  had  pictured 
the  golden  reign  of  righteousness  and  peace  as  beginning 
immediately  after  the  downfall  of  the  Assyrian  (cf.  on 
Hag.  ii.  6)  ;  and  so  Zechariah,  idealizing  similarly  the 
approaching  future,  pictures  the  completion  of  the  Temple 
as  inaugurating  the  same  ideal  age,  when  Judah  and  its 
inhabitants,  with  Yahweh  again  dwelling  in  their  midst 
(ii.  10-12),  will  be  prosperous  and  happy  (ii.  4,  5,  iii.  10), 
no  longer  assailed  by  foes  (ii.  8, 9,  and  elsewhere),  purged 
of  sinners  (v.  1-4),  and  sin  (iii.  9,  v.  5-1 1  ;  cf.  Is.  i.  26,  iv. 
3,  xxix.  20-24,  xxxiii.  24),  ruled  by  their  ideal  king,--whom 
Zechariah,  as  can  scarcely  be  doubted  (see  on  iii.  8,  vi.  11), 
conceives  as  represented  by  Zerubbabel,— with  Joshua  as 
priest  at  his  side  (vi.  13),  maintaining  faithfully  the  ritual 
observances  of  the  Temple  (iii.  7),  and  when  *  many 
nations '  (as  Isaiah  also  had  foretold,  ii.  2,  3,  and  else- 
where) will  press  forward,  eager  to  share  the  same 
spiritual  privileges,  and  'join  themselves'  to  Yahweh 
(ii.  11).  Many  of  the  same  thoughts  of  Israel's  felicity, 
in  the  coming  Messianic  age,  recur  in  chap,  viii  {vv.  ^-Z, 
12-13,  15  ;  also,  vv.  20-3,  the  adhesion  of  foreign 
nations).  Like  Isaiah,  Zechariah  was  disappointed  :  the 
completion  of  the  Temple  was  not  followed  by  an  age  of 


INTRODUCTION  i8i 

ideal  happiness  and  goodness  :  nevertheless,  his  visions 
remain  as  ideals  of  the  goal  designed  by  God  for  man, 
and  of  the  goal  to  which,  we  may  hope,  human  history  is, 
if  slowly,  advancing.  The  Messianic  expectations  attached 
to  Zerubbabel  were  naturally  fulfilled,  in  a  larger  sense, 
by  Christ.  Zechariah  was  not,  like  the  older  prophets, 
called  upon  to  rebuke  :  he  nowhere,  for  instance,  refers  to 
idolatry:  his  task  was  to  reassure  and  encourage  his  people 
at  a  time  when  despondency  and  depression  had  taken 
possession  of  them  (p.  150).  Nevertheless  he  opens  his 
prophecy  with  a  call  to  repentance  (i.  2-6) ;  and  in 
chs.  vii  and  viii  he  appears  as  a  true  heir  of  the  older 
prophets,  insisting  upon  the  moral  demands  of  righteous- 
ness and  mercy  which  Yahweh  made  of  His  people,  and 
which,  he  declares,  are  the  condition  upon  which  alone 
His  bright  promises  for  the  future  can  be  fulfilled. 
Zechariah  thus  teaches,  more  distinctly,  perhaps,  than 
any  other  prophet,  how  only  man's  co-operation,  respond- 
ing to  the  promptings  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  can  ever  bring 
in  the  golden  age  upon  earth. 
For  the  Introduction  to  chaps,  ix-xiv,  see  p.  227  ff. 


ZECHARIAH 

1  In  the  eighth  month,  in  the  second  year  of  Darius, 
came  the  word  of  the  Lord  unto  Zechariah  the  son  of 

2  Berechiah,  the  son  of  Iddo,  the  prophet,  saying,  The 
Lord    hath    been   sore    displeased   with  your    fathers. 

3  Therefore  say  thou  unto  them.  Thus  saith  the  Lord 
of  hosts :  Return  unto  me,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  and 

4  I  will  return  unto  you,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts.     Be  ye 
not  as  your  fathers,  unto  whom  the  former  prophets  cried, 

1.  The  second  j'ear  of  Darius  was  B.C.  520.  The  day  of  the 
month  (cf.  v.  7)  has  probably  fallen  out  accidentally. 

son  of  Iddo.     See  Neh.  xii.  4,  16,  from  which  it  appears  that 
Zechariah  was  of  a  priestly  family  (cf.  p.  179). 

Part  I  (i.  2-6). 
A  call  to  repentance. 
2-6.  A  call  to  repentance,  as  the  condition  of  the  return  of 
Yahweh's  favour.  The  call  is  founded  upon  the  experience  of  the 
past  :  the  pre-exilic  Israelites  had  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  the  warnings 
of  the  prophets,  and  Yahweh's  judgements  had  overtaken  them  ; 
let  those  whom  the  prophet  now  addresses  take  a  lesson  from 
their  example. 

2.  with  your  fathers :  who,  viz.  {v.  4),  turned  not  at  my 
rebuke  :  if,  therefore  {v.  3"),  you  wish  me  to  deal  differently  with 
you,  act  yourselves  differently  from  them  ;  return  unto  me,  and 
I  will  return  unto  you. 

3.  Betnru,  &c.  This  is  what  had  been  taught  in  substance  by 
many  previous  prophets  (e.  g.  Hos.  xiv.  2-4 ;  Is.  i.  19  ;  Jer.  iii. 
12-15,  xxix.  12-14)  ;  but  the/orm  occurs  here  for  the  first  time. 
Cf.  Mai.  iii.  7  ;  2  Chr.  xxx.  6  ;  also  Jas.  iv.  8. 

4.  the  former  prophets  :  i.  e.  the  pre-exilic  prophets  ;  cf.  vii.  7, 
12.  As  Wellh.  has  remarked,  the  expression  shows  how  deeply 
the  Jews  of  the  restoration  felt  the  gulf  which  separated  them 
from  pre-exilic  Israel. 


ZECHARIAH  1.  5-7  183 

saying,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  Return  ye  now 
from  your  evil  ways,  and  from  your  evil  doings  :  but 
they  did  not  hear,  nor  hearken  unto  me,  saith  the  Lord. 
Your  fathers,  where  are  they  ?  and  the  prophets,  do  they  5 
live  for  ever?  But  my  words  and  my  statutes,  which  I  6 
commanded  my  servants  the  prophets,  did  they  not 
overtake  your  fathers?  and  they  turned  and  said,  Like 
as  the  Lord  of  hosts  thought  to  do  unto  us,  according 
to  our  ways,  and  according  to  our  doings,  so  hath  he 
dealt  with  us. 

Upon  the   four   and   twentieth   day  of  the  eleventh  7 

Beturuye,  &c.  Into  these  words  Zechariah  casts  the  quintes- 
sence of  the  teaching  of  the  pre-exilic  prophets  :  man's  repentance 
is  the  condition  of  God's  assistance.  The  phraseology  is  modelled 
upon  that  of  Jeremiah:  see  esp.  Jer.  xxv.  5  ;  cf.  also  xviii.  ir, 
xxiii,  22**,  XXXV.  15. 

now :  the  enclitic  '  now  '  («3),  better  rendered,  I  pray  you. 

but  they  hearkened  not.  Cf,  Jer.  vii.  24,  xxix.  19,  xxxv. 
16,  17,  &c. 

nor  attended  unto  me.  Cf.  Jer.  vi.  10,  17,  19,  xviii.  18  (Heb.). 
5,  6.  An  objection  met.  The  people  are  supposed  to  argue 
that  the  fathers  are  long  dead,  and  what  have  the  former  prophets 
to  do  with  the  present  generation  ?  Zechariah  replies  :  It  is  true, 
your  fathers  and  the  prophets  belong  to  the  past ;  but  (v.  6)  not 
so  my  words  :  your  fathers  were  obliged  to  own  that  they  were 
fulfilled  in  their  case  ;  and  unless  you  repent,  they  will  be  fulfilled 
again  in  yours. 

5.  where  are  they?     The  word  '  they  '  is  emphatic. 

6.  my  statutes,  &c.     Rather,  my  decrees  (viz.  of  judgement) 
with  which  I  commissioned,  &c. 

my  servants  the  prophets.  So  first  in  Am.  iii.  7  ;  most  fre- 
quently in  Jeremiah  (six  times),  and  thecompilerof  Kings  (five  times'. 

overtake.     Cf.  Dt.  xxviii.  15,  45. 

and  they  turned.  Viz.  not  at  the  warning,  but  at  the  judge- 
ment, which  forced  them,  when  it  was  too  late,  to  acknowledge 
the  truth  of  what  the  prophets  had  said. 

thoug-ht  .  .  .  dealt.     So  Lam.  ii.  17"  (Heb.). 

Part  II  (i.  7— vi.  15). 
Visions  of  hope  and  encouragement  for  Judah. 
*7-\*I.  Zechariah' s  first  vision.     Yahweh's  Four  Horsemen.     On 
the  circumstances  in  which  the  people  now  found  themselves,  and 


i84  ZECHARIAH  1.  8 

month,  which  is  the  month  Shebat,  in  the  second  year 
of  Darius,  came  the  word  of  the  Lord  unto  Zechariah 
the  son  of  Berechiah,  the  son  of  Iddo,  the  prophet, 
8  saying,  I  saw  in  the  night,  and  behold  a  man  riding 
upon  a  red  horse,  and  he  stood  among  the  myrtle  trees 
that  were  in  the  ^  bottom ;  and  behind  him  there  were 
*  Or,  shady  place 


the  direction  which  they  may  be  supposed  to  have  given  to  the 
prophet's  thoughts  and  feelings,  which  formed,  no  doubt,  the 
human  occasion  of  these  visions,  see  the  Introduction,  p.  i']6i. 

The  object  of  the  first  vision  is  to  show  how,  in  spite  of 
appearances  to  the  contrary,  God's  anger  with  His  people  is  at  an 
end,  and  that  ere  long  they  will  be  in  possession  of  every  prosperity. 
The  prophet  finds  himself  in  imagination  in  one  of  the  myrtle- 
covered  glens  near  Jerusalem  :  he  sees  what  is  in  appearance 
a  body  of  horsemen, — a  reflection,  perhaps,  of  the  military  bands 
and  patrols  of  the  Persians.  The  leader  of  the  party  is  in  front, 
the  others  are  behind.  It  soon  appears,  however,  that  they  are 
not  in  reality  Persians ;  they  are  angelic  beings,  scouts  of  God,  who 
have  come  in  from  patrolling  the  earth,  bringing  their  reports 
with  them.  The  whole  earth,  they  declare,  is  at  rest :  there  is  no 
sign  of  any  movement  upon  it,  such  as  Haggai,  only  a  few  months 
before,  had  foretold  was  in  '  a  little  while  '  to  overthrow  the  powers 
of  the  heathen  (Hag.  ii.  6,  7,  20-22),  and  bring  in  for  Israel  the 
Messianic  age.  The  angel  who  is  speaking  with  the  prophet 
thereupon  inquires  how  much  longer  Jerusalem  is  to  rest  under 
the  Divine  displeasure,  and  is  assured  in  reply  that  Yahweh's 
wrath  now  at  last  is  turned  to  pity :  Jerusalem  and  the  Temple 
will  ere  long  be  rebuilt,  and  the  prosperity  of  His  people  will  be 
no  longer  delayed. 

*7.  the  four  and  twentieth  day,  &c.  Three  months  since 
Zechariah  had  come  forward  with  his  call  to  repentance  (i.  1-6), 
and  exactly  two  months  since  Haggai's  encouraging  prophecies, 
ii.  18-19,  20-23. 

Shebat,  i.  e.  Feb.- Mar.  One  of  the  post-exilic  names  of  the 
Jewish  months,  derived  from  Babylonia.     Cf.  vii.  i. 

8.  red;  i.  e.,  probably,  as  we  should  say,  chestnut. 

in  the  bottom.  The  word  is  used  elsewhere  only  of  the 
'  deep '  of  the  sea  (Ps.  cvii.  24  al.)  ;  and  its  applicability  to  a  valley- 
bottom  is  very  doubtful.  The  rend,  of  RVm.,  shady  place  'cf.  LXX 
Twv  icnraaKKtiv^,  or  glen,  implying  the  least  possible  change  in  the 
vocalization,  is  preferable. 


ZECHARIAH  1.  9-12  185 

horses,  red,  sorrel,  and  white.     Then  said  I,  O  my  lord,  9 
what  are  these  ?  And  the  angel  that  talked  with  me  said 
unto  me,  I  will  shew  thee  what  these  be.     And  the  man  10 
that  stood  among  the  myrtle  trees  answered  and  said, 
These  are  they  whom  the  Lord  hath  sent  to  walk  to 
and   fro   through  the   earth.     And  they  answered   the  n 
angel  of  the  Lord  that  stood  among  the  myrtle  trees, 
and  said,  We  have  walked  to  and  fro  through  the  earth, 
and,  behold,  all  the  earth  sitteth  still,  and  is  at  rest. 
Then  the  angel  of  the  Lord  answered  and  said,  O  Lord  12 

sorrel :  i.  e.  yellowish'red.  The  reason  why  the  horses  are 
mentioned,  rather  than  their  riders,  appears  to  be  because  some 
significance  is  regarded  as  attaching  to  their  colours ;  though 
what  this  significance  is,  is  not  explained,  and  is  by  no  means 
self-evident.  Most  probably  the  colours  stand  in  some  relation  to 
the  quarters  of  the  earth  which  the  horsemen  are  supposed  to 
have  been  severally  patrolling  (cf,  vi.  2,  3,  6) :  the  supposition 
(Keil)  that  they  have  a  reference  to  the  mission  which  they  had 
to  discharge  is  not  supported  by  the  context :  all  bring  back  the 
same  report  (the  case  of  Rev.  vi.  2,  4,  8,  is  obviously  different). 

9.  O  my  lord,  what  are  these?  The  words  are  addressed  to 
the  interpreting  angel,  of  whose  presence  in  the  vision  we  are 
first  made  aware  by  this  question  and  the  following  answer. 

the  angel  that  talked  with  me.  The  title  by  which  the 
angel  who  explains  to  Zechariah  what  he  beholds  is  distinguished 
throughout  the  visions  (i.  13,  14,  19,  ii.  3,  iv.  i,  4,  5,  v.  10,  vi.  4). 

I  will  shew  thee  {lit.  '  make  thee  see  ').  He  does  not  say, 
/  will  tell  thee,  but  /  will  shew  thee,  i.  e.  thou  wilt  see  directly 
what  they  are. 

10.  And  the  man  that  stood,  &c.  The  rider  on  the  front 
horse  mentioned  in  v.  8  here  interposes,  and  explains  that  the 
horsemen  are  the  scouts  whom  Yahweh  has  sent  out  to  patrol  the 
earth,  and  report  what  is  taking  place  upon  it. 

to  walk  to  and  fro :  i.  e.  to  patrol  (cf.  Job  i.  7). 

11.  Hereupon  the  horsemen  speak  themselves,  and  report  to 
Yahweh's  angel — who  also,  it  now  appears,  as  well  as  the  rider  of 
vv.  8,  10,  stood  among  the  myrtle-trees— that  nothing  is  stirring 
in  the  whole  earth  ;  there  is  no  sign  of  any  movement  bringing 
in  for  Israel  the  Messianic  age.  Zechariah  did  not  attach  to  the 
commotions  in  the  Persian  empire  (p.  150)  the  same  significance 
that  Haggai  appears  to  have  done. 

12.  Taking  the  text  as  it  stands  (see  note  on  v.  13),  Yahweh's 


i86  ZECHARIAH  1.  13 

of  hosts,  how  long  wilt  thou  not  have  mercy  on  Jeru- 
salem and  on  the  cities  of  Judah,  against  which  thou 
hast  had  indignation  these  threescore  and  ten  years? 
13  And  the  Lord  answered  the  angel  that  talked  with  me 

angel,  though  from  one  point  of  view  representing  Yahweh  {v. 
II),  is  from  another  point  of  view  independent  of  Him,  and 
represents  the  feelings  of  Zechariah  and  his  countrymen,  who  could 
not  but  be  disappointed  at  the  answer  given  by  the  horsemen  in 
v.  II ;  accordingly  he  makes  intercession  on  behalf  of  Israel,  and 
asks  Yahweh  why,  though  seventy  years  have  passed  (b.  c.  586- 
520),  His  anger, — as  was  popularly  inferred  at  the  time  (see  p. 
150)10  be  the  case, — still  rested  upon  Judah  and  Jerusalem.  In 
this  intercession  of  Yahweh's  angel  on  Israel's  behalf  we  may, 
perhaps,  see  the  beginning  of  the  doctrine  of  patron  angels, 
representing  particular  peoples,  which  meets  us  later  in  a  more 
developed  form  in  the  Book  of  Daniel  (Dan.  x.  21,  xii.  1). 

answered.  The  word  does  not  necessarily  mean  '  replied  to 
a  question'  ;  it  may  mean,  as  it  does  in  v.  11,  '  spoke  in  a  manner 
corresponding  to  a  particular  situation,  or  the  feelings  called  forth 
by  it ' :  cf.  for  instance.  Job  iii,  2  ;  Is.  xiv.  10  ;  Dan.  iii.  14,  iv.  19. 

not  have  mercy.  Better,  have  no  compassion, — the  word 
used  in  Is.  xiv.  i,  xlix.  13  ;  Ps.  cii.  13. 

13.  Yahweh  Himself  now  intervenes,  and  '  answers'  the  inter- 
preting  angel  with  comforting  assurances.  Under  what  form 
Yahweh  appeared  in  the  vision  is  not  indicated  by  Zechariah,  any 
more  than  it  is  by  Amos  in  Am.  vii.  1-9,  viii.  1-3,  ix.  i  :  He  is 
introduced  abruptly,  just  as  the  interpreting  angel  is  in  v.  9,  and 
*  Yahweh's  angel '  in  t;.  11  *. 

*  The  explanation  of  this  vision  given  above  (which  is  that  of  Keil) 
appears  to  the  present  writer  to  be  the  most  satisfactory  and  con- 
sistent :  but  it  must  be  allowed  that  the  description,  in  some  of  its 
details,  is  not  very  distinctly  expressed  ;  and  some  commentators 
have  identified  the  '  angel  of  Yahweh  that  stood  among  the  myrtle 
trees  '  of  ii.  11  with  the  '  man  riding  the  red  horse,'  and  also  'stand- 
ing among  the  myrtle  trees,'  of  vv.  8,  10  (so  e.  g.  T.  T.  Perowne), 
and  (understanding  'answered'  in  v.  13  in  its  strict  sense)  the 
'  angel  of  Yahweh'  in  -y.  12  with  the  'angel  that  talked  with  me' 
of  vv.  9,  13.  This  interpretation  certainly  imparts  clearness  into  the 
description ;  but  it  can  scarcely  be  the  intention  of  the  text  as  it 
stands.  Accordingly  We.,  Now.,  Marti,  who  adopt  it,  suppose  the 
text  to  have  been  altered,  and  confused,  in  consequence  of  a  mis- 
understanding, and  correct  it  so  as  to  make  it  express  it  distinctly  ; 
thus  they  read  in  v.  %   'a  man  standing  among '  &c.  (so  already 


ZECHARIAH  1.  14-16  187 

with  good  words,  even  comfortable  words.  So  the  angel  14 
that  talked  with  me  said  unto  me,  Cry  thou,  saying. 
Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts :  I  am  jealous  for  Jerusa- 
lem and  for  Zion  with  a  great  jealousy.  And  I  am  15 
very  sore  displeased  with  the  nations  that  are  at  ease: 
for  I  was  but  a  little  displeased,  and  they  '^helped 
forward  the  affliction.     Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  :  16 

*  Or,  helped  for  evil. 

good  words :  i.  e.  gracious  words,  promises  of  prosperity  :  cf. 
Josh,  xxiii.  14  ;  Jer.  xxix.  10. 

14-17.  The  assurances  of  v.  13  particularized  more  closely, 
and  communicated  by  the  interpreting  angel  to  the  prophet,  to  be 
proclaimed  by  him  to  the  people  at  large. 

14.  Cry:  i.e.  Proclaim  ;  cf.  Is.  xl.  6,  Iviii.  i. 

I  am  jealous.  *  I  have  been  and  still  am  jealous  *  is  what  the 
Heb.  tense  used  implies.  Yahweh's  'jealousy'  for  His  people 
(cf.  viii.  2)  prompts  Him  now  at  last  to  interpose  on  its  behalf :  cf. 
Ez.  xxxvi.  5,  6,  xxxviii.  19  ;  Is.  xlii.  13,  lix.  17. 

15.  But  Yahweh  is  sore  displeased  with  the  nations ;  for 
they  had  done  more  evil  to  Israel  than  they  were  commissioned 
to  do  :  He  was  angry  (relatively)  but  a  little  with  Israel,  but  they 
had  helped  unto  evil,  i.  e.  had  helped,  not  simply  as  His  instru- 
ments for  the  correction  of  Israel,  but  ^br  evil  (Jer.  xliv.  11),  or 
calamity,  seeking  to  exterminate  Israel.  '  The  fall  of  the  Chal- 
daeans  had  effected  nothing;  the  Persians  were  no  better  than  the 
Chaldaeans  ;  the  power  of  the  heathen  had  yet  to  be  broken  before 
the  Messianic  kingdom  could  be  reaHzed.  The  Jews  were  evidentl3' 
in  despair,  because,  even  after  their  return  to  Palestine,  things 
still  went  on  quietly  in  their  old  way '  (We.). 

at  ease :  in  careless  and  godless  security  (Am.  vi.  i  ;  Is.  xxxii. 
9,  11),  indifferent  or  contemptuous  towards  others  (Job  xii.  5; 
Ps.  cxxiii.  4). 

16.  VI.  Now,  therefore,  Yahweh*s  anger  against  His  people  is 
turned  into  compassion  :  the  Temple  and  city  will  be  rebuilt,  and 
His  people  will  again  enjoy  prosperity. 

16.  am  returned,  &c.     Cf.  Is.  lii.  8^ 

E\vald%  and  'before'  for  'behind,'  they  omit  i;.  10  as  an  incorrect 
gloss,  anticipating  v.  11,  and  they  read  \nv.  11  'the  man'  for  'the 
angel  of  Yahweh,'  and  in  t».  12  '  the  angel  that  talked  with  me  '  for 
*  the  angel  of  Yahweh.'  These  corrections  are,  however,  violent ;  and 
the  indistinctness  in  the  representation  may,  r.fter  all,  be  original. 


i88  ZECHARIAH  1.  17,18 

I  am  returned  to  Jerusalem  with  mercies;  my  house 
shall  be  built  in  it,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  and  a  line 

17  shall  be  stretched  forth  over  Jerusalem.  Cry  yet  again, 
saying,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts  :  My  cities  ^through 
prosperity  shall  yet  be  spread  abroad;  and  the  Lord 
shall  yet  comfort  Zion,  and  shall  yet  choose  Jerusalem. 

18  ^And  I  lifted  up  mine  eyes,  and  saw,  and  behold  four 

*  Or,  shall  yet  overflow  with  prosperity 
b  [Ch.  ii.  I  in  Heb.] 

with  mercies.     Rather,  with  compassion  (as  in  vii.  9). 

my  house  shall  be  built  in  it.  The  rebuilding  of  the 
Temple,  in  which  Yahweh  might  again,  as  of  old,  take  up  His 
abode  (cf,  ii.  10),  would  be  the  final  proof  that  the  period  of  His 
wrath  was  at  an  end,  and  that  He  again  viewed  His  people  with 
favour.  Cf.  the  solemn  departure  of  Yahweh  from  His  Temple, 
as  seen  in  Ezekiel's  vision,  Ez.  x.  18  f.,  xi,  23,  and  His  re-entry 
into  it,  Ez.  xliii.  4,  5. 

and  a  line,  &c.  :  i.  e.  the  measuring-line ;  fig.  for  '  the  city 
will  be  rebuilt.'     Cf.  Jer.  xxxi.  38-40. 

17.  my  cities.  The  promise  is  here  extended  to  the  other 
*  cities  of  Judah  '  (v.  12)  inhabited  by  the  returned  exiles  :  cf.  Jer. 
xxxiii.  12,  13  ;  and  Neh.  xi.  25  ff. 

shall  yet  overflow  (Pr.  v.  16)  with  prosperity.  The  marg. 
of  RV.  is  to  be  followed. 

shall  yet  conxfort  Zion.  Cf.  Is.  Ii.  3,  Hi.  ^.  LXX,  how- 
ever, has  have  compassion  on  (cm  for  nn:),  which  suits  the  con- 
text better  (see  v.  12).  Cf.  Is.  xiv.  i,  of  which  'shall  yet 
choose '  is  in  any  case  a  reminiscence ;  also  xlix.  13^  Jer.  xxx. 
18  fl/. 

18-21.  The  second  vision.  The  Four  Horns  and  the  Four 
Smiths.  The  prophet  sees  four  horns,  towering  up,  we  ma}' 
suppose  perhaps,  out  of  the  distant  darkness,  with  threatening 
mien,  which  he  is  told  are  the  powers  that  have  scattered  Judah. 
Thereupon  four  smiths  appear,  who,  he  learns,  are  to  strike  down 
and  disable  the  horns  of  the  nations.  The  vision  symbolizes  the 
destruction  of  the  heathen  powers  which  had  oppressed  Israel, 
and  threatened  now  to  frustrate  the  fulfilment  of  the  promises 
given  in  v.  16.  The  four  horns  point  to  the  four  quarters  of  the 
heavens  (cf.  ii.  6,  vi.  2-6),  and  represent  consequently'  Israel's 
enemies  in  every  direction,  or  the  heathen  world  at  large.  The 
hostility  shown  towards  Israel  by  its  more  immediate  neighbours 
is  here  generalized,  and  becomes  an  antagonism  between  Israel 
and  the  world  at  largo  (comp.,  later,  Dan.  ii  and  vii). 


ZECHARIAH  1.  19—2.  i  189 

horns.     And  I  said  unto  the  angel  that  talked  with  me,  19 
What  be  these?   And  he  answered  me,  These  are  the 
horns  which  have  scattered  Judah,  Israel,  and  Jerusalem. 
And  the  Lord  shewed  me  four  smiths.     Then  said  I,  ao,  21 
What  come  these  to  do?   And  he  spake,  saying,  These 
are  the  horns  which  scattered  Judah,  so  that  no  man 
did  lift  up  his  head :  but  these  are  come  to  fray  them, 
to  cast  down  the  horns  of  the  nations,  which  lifted  up 
their  horn  against  the  land  of  Judah  to  scatter  it. 
^  And  I  lifted  up  mine  eyes,  and  saw,  and  behold  a  2 

^  [Ch.  ii.  5  in  Heb.] 

18.  four  horns.  The  horn  is  the  symbol  of  aggressive  might : 
Mic.  iv.  13 ;  Ps.  Ixxvi.  lo,  and  frequently. 

19.  scattered.  The  expression  is  not  applicable  to  a  'horn,' 
as  such  ;  but  the  prophet  is  thinking  of  the  powers  or  peoples 
which  the  horns  represent. 

Judah,  (even)  Israel  and  Jerusalem.  So  the  text  must  be 
rendered,  the  last  three  words  being  epexegetical.  But  they  look 
very  much  like  an  explanatory  gloss  (cf.  'Judah  '  alone,  v.  21). 

£0.  shewed  me.  In  the  vision  :  as  Am.  vii.  i,  4,  7,  viii.  i  ; 
Jer.  xxiv.  i. 

smiths,  i.  e.  ^Vow-smiths,  the  horns  being,  no  doubt,  pictured 
as  made  of  iron  (Mic.  iv.  13).  These  'smiths'  are  symbolical 
representations  of  the  agencies  by  which  God  will  overthrow  the 
enemies  of  His  people. 

21.  And  he  spake:  viz.  the  interpreting  angel. 

so  that,  &c.  Read  probably  so  that  it  lifted  not  up  its  head 
(nCN  for  u,"N  :  cf ,  for  the  Hebrew,  Mai.  ii.  9). 

to  fray  them.  An  archaism  for  to  make  them  afraid  (so,  for 
the  same  Heb.,  Zeph.  iii.  13  al.), — 'afraid'  being  just  the  passive 
participle  of  to  '  af-fray.'  Better  (as  '  afraid '  is  now  a  weaker 
word  in  English  than  it  was  formerly),  to  affright  (or  disturb) 
them.  In  using  the  word  Zechariah  is  thinking,  as  in  the  case  of 
'scattered,'  not  of  the  'horns'  (which  could  not  be  'affrighted'), 
but  of  the  peoples  which  the  horns  represent. 

ii.  1-5.  The  third  vision.  The  Man  with  the  Measuring  Line. 
A  man  with  a  measuring-line  goes  forth  to  lay  out  the  site  of  the 
restored  city ;  but  he  is  interrupted  by  the  interpreting  angel  : 
the  new  Jerusalem  is  to  have  no  walls,  for  its  population  will  be 
free  to  spread  far  and  wide;  and  Yahweh  will  be  its  sufficient 
defence. 


I90  ZECHARIAH  2.  2-5 

a  man  with  a  measuring  line  in  his  hand.  Then  said  I, 
AV'hither  goest  thou  ?  And  he  said  unto  me,  To  measure 
Jerusalem,  to  see  what  is  the  breadth  thereof,  and  what 

3  is  the  length  thereof.  And,  behold,  the  angel  that 
talked  with  me  went  forth,  and  another  angel  went  out 

4  to  meet  him,  and  said  unto  him,  Run,  speak  to  this 
young  man,  saying,  Jerusalem  shall  ^be  inhabited  as 
villages  without  walls,  by  reason  of  the  multitude  of  men 

5  and  cattle  therein.  For  I,  saith  the  Lord,  will  be  unto 
her  a  wall  of  fire  round  about,  and  I  will  be  the  glory  in 

*  Or,  dwell 

2.  what  is,  &c.  Rather,  what  should  he  ;  for  Jerusalem  was 
still  only  partially  built. 

3.  went  forth  :  viz.  from  beside  me.  But  probably  we  should 
read,  with  LXX  {ficfrrjKu),  stood  still  (cf.  iii.  5  end), — 'went  forth' 
oeing  a  lapsus  calami,  occasioned  by  the  following  *  went  out '  (the 
Hebrew  for  both  expressions  being  the  same). 

went  out.  Better,  came  forth,  viz.  from  some  other  part  of 
the  field  of  vision. 

4.  and  said.  Rather,  and  he  said,  the  subject  being,  most 
probably,  the  interpreting  angel,  who  remains  always  beside  the 
prophet,  and  is  not  likely  to  have  been  sent  on  a  message  else- 
where (v.  4). 

unto  him :  i.  e.  to  the  *  other  angel '  of  v.  3. 

this  young"  man.  The  man  with  the  measuring-line, — the 
expression  being,  perhaps,  used  as  implying  one  liable  to  act  with- 
out consideration  (i  K.  iii.  7).  The  man  with  the  measuring-line 
is  to  be  stopped  in  his  attempt  to  define  the  limits  of  the  new  city  : 
Jerusalem  will  be  too  populous  to  admit  of  walls,  and  too  secure, 
under  Yahweh's  protection  {v.  5),  to  need  them. 

shall  be  inhabited:  Heb.  shall  sit.  A  city,  or  country, 
when  inhabited  and  prosperous,  is  said  in  Hebrew  to  sit  or  dwell 
(Is.  xiii.  20 ;  Jer.  1.  13  al.).     Cf.  on  Nah.  iii.  8. 

as  villag-es  without  walls.  Lit.  '  as  open-country-districts,' 
as  opposed  to  walled  cities  :  cf.  Ez.  xxxviii.  11  ('a  land  of  open- 
country-districts,'  II  'dwelling  without  walls');  also  i  S.  vi.  18, 
Dt.  iii.  5  (see  on  Hab.  iii.  14).  The  idea  of  the  expansion  of 
Jerusalem  in  the  ideal  future  as  Is.  xxxiii.  17,  xlix.  19,  20,  liv.  2. 

5.  For  the  thought  of  Yahweh  surrounding  Jerusalem  with  His 
protection,  cf.,— though  the  figures  are  different,— Is.  xxxiii.  21, 
xxvi.  I,  Ix.  iS''. 

and  a  erlory  wUl  I  be,  &c.     Cf.  Is.  Ix.  i,  a ;  Ez.  xliii.  2,  4,  5. 


ZECHARIAH  2.  6,  7  191 

the  midst  of  her.     Ho,  ho,  flee  from  the  land  of  the  6 
north,  saith  the  Lord  :  for  I  have  spread  you  abroad  as 
the  four  winds  of  the   heaven,  saith  the  Lord.     Ho  7 
Zion,  escape,  thou  that  dwellest  with  the  daughter  of 

6-13.  A  lyric  epilogue,  attached  to  the  vision,  in  which  the 
prophet  (i)  in  jubilant  tones,  recalling  parts  of  11  Isaiah,  bids  the 
Jews  still  in  exile  escape  from  the  judgement  about  to  break  upon 
the  heathen,  and  return  to  Palestine,  vv.  6-9 ;  and  (2)  calls  upon 
Zion  to  exult,  because  Yahweh  is  about  to  take  up  again  His 
abode  in  Jerusalem,  and  many  nations  will  join  themselves  to  Him, 
w.  10-13. 

6.  flee.     Cf.  Is.  xlviii.  20,  lii.  11. 

the  land  of  the  north.  An  expression  used  vaguely,  especially 
in  Jeremiah  (iii.  18,  xxiii.  8  al.),  of  the  land  of  Israel's  exile,  and 
understood,  it  seems,  as  including  even  Babylonia.  Cf.  on  Zeph. 
ii.  13- 

for  I  have  spread  yon  abroad,  &c.  The  passage  is  difficult. 
(i)  As  rendered  in  RV.,  have  spread  abroad  will  naturally  mean 
'  have  scattered  you  '  (see  the  same  Hebrew  in  Ps.  Ixviii.  14,  Ez.  xvii. 
21):  in  this  case,  however,  'as  the  four  winds  of  heaven'  agrees 
badly  with  '  the  land  of  the  north '  from  which  alone  Israel  has 
just  been  bidden  to  return  (see  also  v.  7  '  Babylon ').  (2)  Hitzig, 
Keil,  Wright,  therefore,  understand  the  words  as  a  promise  of 
future  extension,  the  perfect  being  the  prophetic  perfect  = '  I  will 
spread  you  abroad ' ;  but  the  thought  of  the  restored  Jews  being 
spread  abroad  'as  the  four  winds  of  heaven,'  i.  e.  generally  over 
the  earth,  does  not  harmonize  with  v.  12,  which  implies  that  they 
are  to  be  confined  to  Judah.  (3)  LXX  has  'for  I  mil  gather  you 
from  the  four  winds  of  heaven  '  :  this  yields  the  best  sense ;  and, 
in  spite  of  the  not  very  easy  corruption  of  'Pi^^p  to  'n\r"ic,  which 
it  presupposes,  is  probably  to  be  preferred  (so  We.,  Now.,  Marti). 

the  fonr  winds  of  the  heaven.  A  late  expression  :  vi.  5 ; 
Jer.  xlix.  36  ;  Dan.  viii.  8,  xi.  4. 

V.  Zion:  i.  e.  the  population  of  Zion  ;  here,  of  such  parts  of  it 
as  were  still  in  exile.  However,  We.,  Now.,  G.  A.  Smith,  render 
more  probably  (with  LXX),  //o,  escape  unto  Zion  :  for  the  order 
of  words  in  the  Heb.  in  this  case,  cf.  Josh.  ii.  16;  i  S.  v.  8; 
I  K.  ii.  26 ;  Jer.  ii.  10 ;  Is.  xxiii.  12. 

escape.  For  a  judgement  is  impending  over  the  heathen 
world  (v.  9 ;  i.  21) :  cf.  Is.  xlv.  20 ;  Jer.  1.  8,  10,  Ii.  6,  45. 

thou  that  dwellest  with.  In  the  Heb.  *  inhabitress  of,'  the 
term  denoting  the  community,  as  often  (e.  g.  Jer.  x.  17  ;  Mic.  i.  11, 
12  :  see  RVm.).  The  '  daughter  of  Babylon  '  is  a  personification 
of  the  population  of  Babylon  (on  Zeph.  iii.  14)  ;  but  the  entire 


192  ZECHARIAH  2.  8,  9 

8  Babylon.  For  thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts :  » After 
glory  hath  he  sent  me  unto  the  nations  which  spoiled 
you :  for  he  that  toucheth  you  toucheth  the  apple  of  his 

9  eye.     For,  behold,  I  will  shake  mine  hand  over  them, 

•^  Or,  AJter  the  glory,  he  hath  &c. 

expression,  as  here  used,  is  peculiar  ;  and  probably  ni  ('  daughter  ') 
is  simply  a  dittograph,  and  we  should  render,  *  Ho,  escape  unto 
Zion,  thou  inhabitress  of  Babylon '  (i.  e.  the  Jewish  community 
still  resident  in  Babylon). 

8,  9.  A  very  difficult  passage,  though  the  general  sense  is  plain : 
let  the  exiles  still  in  Babylon  hasten  to  quit  it  {v.  7),  because  {y.  9) 
it  is  God's  purpose  to  execute  judgement  upon  the  nations  who 
have  spoiled  them.  As  the  text  stands,  the  speaker  must  be  the 
angel  of  v.  s**,  who  was  told  by  the  interpreting  angel  to  give  the 
promises  contained  in  vv.  4^,  5  ;  and  he  must  say  that  he  had  been 
sent  against  the  nations  which  had  spoiled  Israel  after  glory,  i.  e. 
either  to  ivin  glory  or  success  in  his  mission  (Hitz.,  Ew.),  or  (Keil) 
to  gain  glory  or  honour  (as  the  cognate  verb  is  also  rendered,  Ex. 
xiv.  4,  17,  18)  over  the  heathen,  by  executing  God's  judgement 
upon  them  (cf.  Ez.  xxviii,  22,  xxxix.  13).  There  is,  however, 
nothing  to  suggest  that  the  angel  is  the  speaker  here,  especially 
as  a  new  paragraph  appears  to  begin  with  v.  6 ;  and  that  the 
speaker  in  '  hath  sent  me '  is  the  prophet  is  strongly  supported  by 
V.  9  end,  compared  with  v.  ii**,  iv.  9*^,  and  vi.  15.  Hence  We., 
Now.,  G.  A.  Smith,  Marti,  suppose  that  the  words  'after  glory  he 
hath  sent  me '  are  either  out  of  place,  or  parenthetical ;  and  render, 
'  For  thus  saith  Yahweh  of  hosts— (after  glory  hath  he  sent  me) — 
unto  {or  concerning)  the  nations  that  spoil  you  (for  he  that 
toucheth  you  toucheth  the  apple  of  his  eye),  that,  behold,  I  will 
swing  my  hand  over  them,'  &c.  This  yields  a  more  probable 
general  sense  :  the  objection  to  it  is  that  the  appearance  here  of 
the  words  after  glory  hath  he  sent  me  is  unexplained  :  why  should 
either  the  prophet  himself,  or,  if  the  words  are  a  gloss,  another 
on  his  behalf,  thus  strangely  express  his  hope  of  success  in  his 


mission 


8.  touchetli  the  apple  of  his  eye :  i.  e.  touches  what  is  most 
precious  to  Him,  and  most  carefully  guarded  :  cf.  Dt.  xxxii.  10 
(where  Israel  is  said  to  be  '  kept '  by  Yahweh  *  as  the  apple  of  his 
eye  ')  ;  Ps.  xvii.  8. 

9.  shake.     Better,  swing:  see  Is.  xi.  15,  xix.  i6;  cf.  x.  3a. 

*  RVm.  (  =  AV.)  means  '  After  the  glory  promised  in  v.  5  has  come 
upon  Israel  * ;  but  there  is  no  art.  in  the  Heb.  to  show  that  there  is  any 
reference  to  v.  5,  nor  is  the  sense  thus  obtained  probable  in  itself. 


ZECHARIAH  2.  10-13  193 

and  they  shall  be  a  spoil  to  those  that  served  them  :  and 
ye  shall  know  that  the  Lord  of  hosts  hath  sent  me. 
Sing  and  rejoice,  O  daughter  of  Zion :  for,  lo,  I  come,  10 
and  I  will  dwell  in  the  midst  of  thee,  saith  the  Lord. 
And  many  nations  shall  join  themselves  to  the  Lord  in  11 
that  day,  and  shall  be  my  people :  and  I  will  dwell  in 
the  midst  of  thee,  and  thou  shalt  know  that  the  Lord 
of  hosts  hath  sent  me  unto  thee.     And  the  Lord  shall  12 
inherit  Judah  as  his  portion  in  the  holy  land,  and  shall 
yet  choose  Jerusalem.     Be  silent,  all  flesh,  before  the  13 
Lord  :    for  he    is   waked    up    out   of  his   holy   habi- 
tation. 

and  they  shall  he  a  spoil,  &c.  The  tables  will  be  turned  ; 
and  now  the  nations  will  become  a  spoil  to  Israel.  Cf.  Is.  xiv.  2^, 
li.  22^  23*,  Ez.  xxxix.  10^. 

and  ye  shall  know,  &c.     Cf.  v.  i\^,  iv.  9**,  vi.  15. 

10.  SinsT  and  rejoice.     Cf.  Zeph.  iii.  14. 

and  Z  will  dwell  in  the  midst  of  thee :  viz.  when  the  Temple 
is  rebuilt.  The  expression,  as  in  the  priestly  narrative  of  the 
Pc.it.,  with  reference  to  the  Tabernacle  (Ex.  xxv.  8,  xxix.  45,  46; 
cf.  also  I  K.  vi.  13)  :  in  the  future  which  the  prophet  here  con- 
templates the  ideal  relation  of  Yahweh  to  His  people  will  be 
established  (cf.  Ez.  xliii.  9). 

11.  Many  nations  will  moreover yo/«  themselves  (Is.  xiv.  1^  ;  Jer. 
1.  4)  to  Yahweh,  and  become  His  people  (cf.  viii.  22).  A  reaffirma- 
tion of  older  prophecies  of  the  future  adhesion  of  heathen 
nations  to  the  religion  of  Israel :  e.  g.  Is.  ii.  3,  xviii.  7,  xix.  18-25 » 
Jer.  xvi.  19. 

be  to  me  a  people :  commonly  said  of  Israel  :  see  on  viii,  8. 
li**.  The  thought  oi  vv.  lo^  9**,  repeated  for  emphasis. 
12*.     Cf.  Dt.  xxxii.  9. 
the  holy  land.     This  expression  occurs  only  here.     Cf.  ana- 
logous expressions  in  Ex.  xv.  13,  Is.  xi.  9,  Ps.  Ixxviii.  54  RVm.,  &c. 
shall  yet  choose  Jerusalem.     Cf.  i.  17^,  Is.  xiv.  i. 
13.  The  judgement  upon  the  unfriendly  heathen  world  {v.  9; 
cf.  Hag.  ii.  20)  is  imminent :  already  Yahweh  is  bestirring  Himself 
in  His  holy  place  ;  let  all,  therefore,  be  silent  in  awe  before  Him. 
Be  silent,  &c.     As  Zeph.  i.  7,  Hab.  ii,  20.     Lit.  Hnsh  1 
is  waked  up.    Cf.,  for  the  word,  Ps.  xliv.  23  ;  for  the  thought, 
Is.  Ixvi.  6, 

out  of  his  holy  habitation.     Cf.  Dt.  xxvi.  15  ;  Jer.  xxv.  30. 


194  ZECHARIAH    3.  i 

3      And  he  shewed  me  Joshua  the  high  priest  standing 
before  the  angel  of  the  Lord,  and  ^  Satan  standing  at 

*  That  is,  the  Adversary. 


iil.  The  fourth  vision.  The  High-Priest,  Joshua,  and  the  Satan. 
Joshua,  the  high-priest,  appears,  standing  before  Yahweh,  clothed 
in  filthy  garments,  symbolizing  the  iniquities  of  the  people  :  the 
Satan,  essaying  to  accuse  him,  is  rebuked  ;  his  filthy  garments  are 
removed  from  him,  and  his  iniquities  are  taken  away  {vv.  1-5). 
After  this  he  is  given  rule  over  the  Temple,  with  the  right  of 
priestly  access  to  Yahweh,  and  receives  a  promise  of  the  advent 
of  the  Messiah,  the  forgiveness  of  the  people's  sin,  and  the  restora- 
tion of  national  felicity  (yv.  6-10). 

The  disappointments  and  vexations  of  the  restoration  (p.  149) 
were  felt  keenly  by  the  returned  exiles,  and  seemed  to  them  to 
be  an  indication  that  Yahweh  was  still  angry  with  His  people 
(i.  12  ff.),  on  account  viz.  of  the  idolatries  and  other  iniquities  of 
their  forefathers,  the  guilt  of  which  still  rested  upon  them,  and 
was  brought  to  remembrance  against  them  before  God.  In  the 
present  dramatically  conceived  vision,  these  disturbing  thoughts 
are  set  at  rest.  It  is  emphatically  taught  that  no  impediment 
exists  in  God's  eyes  to  Israel's  complete  restoration  :  the  Satnn, 
who  is  pictured  as  the  accuser,  is  silenced  ;  whatever  guilt  ;:.till 
attaches  to  Israel  is  removed  by  Yahweh's  free  grace. 

1.  And  he  shewed  me.     As  i.  20. 
Joshua.     See  on  Hag.  i,  i, 

standingr  before  Yahweh's  an^rel :  viz.  in  a  forensic  sense, 
as  his  judge  (Dt.  xix.  17  ;  Rom.  xiv.  10;  Rev.  xx.  12). 

the  Satan.  The  word  '  Satan '  means  opposer  ;  and  denotes 
one  who  sets  himself  to  oppose  or  thwart  another  in  his  purpose 
(Nu.  xxii.  22,  32 ;  2  S.  xix.  22  ;  i  K.  v.  4,  xi.  14,  23,  25  :  EW. 
'adversary'),  or  claims,  sometimes  with  the  collateral  idea,  of 
accusing  maliciously  or  falsely  (Ps.  cix.  6  ;  cf.  the  cognate  verb 
vv.  4.  20,  29,  Zech.  iii.  i  end).  It  appears  further  in  the  OT. 
as  the  name  of  a  specific  angel,  'the  Opposer,'  whose  part  it 
is  to  oppose  men  in  their  pretensions  to  a  right  standing  with 
God,  and  to  test  their  sincerity  (Job  iii),  to  prompt  them  to  do 
acts  which  will  bring  them  into  disfavour  with  God  (i  Chr.  xxi.  i), 
and,  as  here,  to  remind  God,  in  no  friendly  spirit,  of  their  sins. 
The  Satan  does  not  appear  in  the  OT.,  as  in  the  NT.,  as  definitely 
tempting  to  sin.  The  word  always  in  the  OT.,  except  in  i  Chr. 
xxi.  I,  has  the  article,  and  was  therefore  felt  distinctly  to  mean 
'the  Opposer.'  In  LXX  it  is  represented  by  Sm/SoAos,  the  'false 
accuser,'  from  the  collateral  idea  referred  to  above.     See  further 


ZECHARIAH    3.  2-4  195 

his  right  hand  to  be  his  adversary.     And  the  Lord  said  2 
unto  Satan,  The  Lord  rebuke  thee,  O  Satan ;  yea,  the 
Lord  that  hath  chosen  Jerusalem  rebuke  thee :  is  not 
this  a  brand  plucked  out  of  the  fire  ?   Now  Joshua  was  3 
clothed  with  filthy  garments,  and  stood  before  the  angel. 
And  he  answered  and   spake  unto  those  that   stood  4 
before  him,  saying.  Take  the  filthy  garments  from  off 
him.     And  unto  him  he  said,  Behold,  I  have  caused 
thine  iniquity  to  pass  from  thee,  and  I  will  clothe  thee 

A.  B.  Davidson's  note  on  Job  i.  6  (in  the  Cantbr.  Bible) ;  and 
G.  A.  Smith,  pp.  317  ff. 

at  his  rigfht  hand.     The  place  of  the  accuser,  Ps.  cix.  6. 

to  be  his  adversary.  In  the  Heb.  one  word,  the  verb 
cognate  with  'Satan'  (see  the  last  note  but  one),  and  meaning 
to  oppose,  especially  with  false  or  malicious  accusations  (Ps. 
xxxviii.  20,  Ixxi.  13,  cix.  4,  20,  29), 

2.  And  Yahweh  said.  As  the  sequel  shows,  'Yahweh' 
must  here  mean  '  Yahweh's  angel,'  even  if  it  be  not  a  textual 
error  for  it  (We.,  Now.,  Marti).  Joshua  is  the  people's  spiritual 
representative  ;  and  in  opposing  him  before  Yahweh  the  Satan 
is  in  effect  opposing,  or  maliciously  accusing,  the  people,  with  the 
object  viz.  of  showing  that  they  had  not  yet  been  punished  as 
much  as  their  sins  deserved.  But  he  is  silenced  by  Yahweh's 
angel  :  Yahweh,  he  is  reminded,  has  chosen  Jefusalem  (i  K.  viii. 
44,  xi.  13,  &c.  ;  cf.  ch.  i.  17,  ii.  12)  ;  and  was  it  necessary  to 
persecute  still  further  a  '  brand  plucked  out  of  the  fire '  ? 

a  brand  plucked  out  of  the  fire :  i.e.  already  greatly  burnt, 
and  only  just  saved  from  complete  destruction.  Nearly  the  same 
expression  occurs  in  Am.  iv.  11. 

3.  with  filthy  garments.  Symbolizing  the  iniquity  of  the 
people.  For  '  filth '  (n^Jiv)  as  fig.  of  sin,  cf.  Is.  iv.  4,  Pr.  xxx.  12 ; 
and  for  the  figure  of  the  garment,  Rev.  iii.  4,  5,  vii.  14,  xix.  8. 

stood  before.     As  v.  i,  in  a  forensic  sense. 

4.  Symbolical  removal  of  Joshua's  (i.  e.  the  people's)  iniquities. 
he:  i.  e.  the  angel.     'Answered,'  as  i.  12. 

those  that  stood  before  him.  Viz.  in  attendance,  waiting 
upon  him,  the  allusion  being  to  subordinate  angels,  by  whom  he 
would  be  pictured  as  surrounded.  To  stand  before  often  has  the 
sense  of  to  'wait  upon';  for  instance,  Dt.  i.  38,  i  S.  xvi.  21, 
I  K.  X.  8. 

caused  to  pass  .  .  .  from  upon  thee.  As  2  S.  xii.  23,  xxiv. 
10  ;  Job  vii.  21. 

O   2 


196  ZECHARIAH   3.  5-7 

5  with  rich  apparel.  And  ^  I  said,  Let  them  set  a  fair 
^  mitre  upon  his  head.  So  they  set  a  fair  ^  mitre  upon 
his   head,   and   clothed   him   with   garments;  and   the 

6  angel  of  the  Lord  stood  by.     And  the  angel  of  the 

7  Lord  protested  unto   Joshua,  saying,  Thus   saith   the 

Lord  of  hosts :  If  thou  wilt  walk  in  my  ways,  and  if 

thou  wilt  keep  my  charge,  then  thou  also  shalt  judge  my 

^  According  to  some  ancient  authorities,  he  said. 
**  Or,  turban  Or,  diadem 

ricli  apparel.  As  a  mark  of  honour,  and  (indirectly)  of 
purity.  The  word  occurs  besides  only  in  Is.  iii.  23,  where  it  is 
rendered  in  RV.  festival  robes. 

5.  And  I  said,  &c.  If  the  text  is  correct,  we  must  suppose 
that  the  prophet,  anxious  to  see  the  high-priest  more  suitably 
clad,  and  watching  with  keen  interest  what  was  being  done, 
involuntarily  gives  vent  to  his  feelings,  and  expresses,  though 
only  as  a  wish,  not  as  a  command,  what  he  desires  to  see  done. 
But  this  is  not  very  natural.  The  Syr.  and  the  Vulg.  (cf.  RVm.) 
have  And  he  said  (i.  e.  the  angel  said\  which  is  probably  right. 
The  LXX  also,  omitting  And  I  said  altogether,  expresses  the 
same  sense. 

fair.  Better,  clean,  as  the  word  (-"irno)  is  usually  rendered. 
This,  however,  was  a  common  meaning  of  'fair'  in  Old  English 
{^DB.  s.  v.) ;  cf.  in  the  Communion  Service  '■  a.  fair  white  linen  cloth.' 

mitre.  Better,  turban  (^'3!?),  the  word  used  of  the  turban 
of  rich  women  (Is.  iii.  23),  or  of  royal  or  eminent  persons  (Is.  Ixii. 
3;  Job  xxix.  14  :  not  elsewhere),  from  F]rj  to  'wind  round'  (Is. 
xxii.  18  RVm.).  It  is  here  a  mark  of  the  dignity  possessed  by  the 
high-priest ;  but  the  high-priest's  '  turban  '  itself  was  called  not 
zamf  but  miznepheih,  Ex.  xxviii.  4  al. 

and  the  angel  of  tlie  Iiord  stood  by.  Rather,  the  angel  of 
Yahweh  standing  (a  circumstantial  clause),  viz.  while  the  high- 
priest's  garments  were  being  changed. 

6-7.  Promise  to  Joshua  :  if  he  is  faithful  to  Yahweh,  and  duly 
maintains  the  rites  of  His  worship,  then  he  will  have  permanent 
authority  over  the  Temple  (*  judge  my  house,  and  keep  my  courts '\ 
and  enjoy  the  right  of  entry  to  Yahweh's  presence  (viz.  as  the 
people's  representative).  In  pre-exilic  times  the  king  was  supreme 
over  the  Temple :  here  the  authority  which  belonged  formerly  to 
the  king  is  conferred  upon  the  high-priest,  upon  the  one  condition 
of  his  being  faithful  to  his  charge. 

6.  protested:  i.  e.  solemnly  declared  (Gen.  xliii.  3  ;  Jer.  xi.  7). 

7.  keep  my  charge.     In  a  ritual  sense  :  Ez.  xliv.  15,  xlviii.  11. 


ZECHARIAH  3.8,9  197 

house,  and  shall  also  keep  my  courts,  and  I  will  give 
thee  '^a  place  of  access  among  these  that  stand  by. 
Hear  now,  O  Joshua  the  high  priest,  thou  and  thy  8 
fellows  that  sit  before  thee ;  for  they  are  men  which  are 
a  ^  sign  :  for,  behold,  I  will  bring  forth  my  servant  the 
c  Branch.     For  behold,  the  stone  that  I  have  set  before  9 

*  Or,  places  to  walk      ^  Or,  wonder      «  Or,  Shoot    Or,  Sprout 


a  place  of  access.  RVm.  gives  the  lit.  rendering  :  RV.  text 
is  a  paraphrase,   explaining  what  is  really  intended.     Cf.  Jer. 

XXX.   21. 

amongr  these  that  stand  by.  I.  e.  that  stand  in  attendance 
(iv.  14),  the  reference  being  to  the  attendant  angels  mentioned  in 
V.  4.  Cf.  I  K.  xxii.  19,  of  Yahweh's  celestial  court. 
8-9.  Promise  of  the  advent  of  the  Messianic  age. 
8.  thy  fellows  :  i.  e.  the  other,  inferior  priests,  who  'sit  before* 
(cf.  2  K.  iv.  38,  vi.  I ;  Ez.  viii.  i,  xiv.  i)  the  high-priest,  receiving 
their  instructions  from  him. 

they  are  men  of  omen  that,  behold  I  Z  am  bringring  my 
servant,  &c.  The  restored  priesthood  is  a  pledge  of  the  approach 
of  the  Messianic  kingdom.  For  *  portent '  or  '  omen '  (nC'Q),  cf. 
Is.  viii.  18,  where  Isaiah  and  his  sons,  in  virtue  of  their  names, 
are  '  signs  and  omens '  of  a  brighter  future  for  Israel  ;  and  Ez.  xii. 
6,  iijxxiv.  24,  27,  where  Ezekiel,  in  what  he  there  does,  is  an 
<  omen  '  or  '  portent '  of  the  future.  As  the  text  stands,  it  is  only 
Joshua's  brother- priests,  not  Joshua  himself,  who  are  the  '  men 
of  omen  ' :  and  We.,  Now.,  Smith,  Marti  are  p  robably  right  in 
omitting  ^d  ('for')  after  yic'?  ('before  thee'),  and  rendering 
'  Hear,  now,  O  Joshua  the  high-priest :  thou  and  thy  fellows  that 
sit  before  thee  are  men  of  omen  that  I  am  bringing,'  &c,     . 

my  servant.  Of  the  ideal  ruler  of  the  future,  or  '  Messiah,' 
as  Ez.  xxxiv.  24,  xxxvii.  24. 

the  Shoot  (or  rather,  since  there  is  no  art.,  as  a  pr.  name, 
Zemah,  'Shoot').  The  Heb.  zemah  cannot  mean  'branch':  as 
its  other  occurrences  show,  it  is  a  general  term  for  what  sprouts 
or  shoots  from  the  ground  (see  e.  g.  Gen.  xix.  25  '  the  growth  of 
the  ground,'  where  '  branch '  would  obviously  be  unsuitable).  In 
Is.  iv.  2  the  '  growth '  or  *  shooting  '  of  Yahweh  means  generally 
the  produce  of  the  soil,  quickened  and  blessed  b}'  Yahweh  in  the 
blissful  future  which  the  prophet  is  there  looking  forward  to  :  in 
Jer.  xxiii.  5  ('  Behold  the  days  come,  saith  Yahweh,  that  I  will 
raise  up  to  David  a  righteous  shoot,  and  he  shall  reign  as  king  and 
prosper'),  and  in  the  parallel  passage,  xxxiii.  15  (•  In  those  days 


198  ZECHARIAH  3.  lo 

Joshua ;  upon  one  stone  are  seven  eyes :  behold,  I  will 

engrave  the  graving  thereof,   saith  the  Lord  of  hosts, 

and  I  will  remove  the  iniquity  of  that  land  in  one  day. 

10  In  that  day,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  shall  ye  call  every 

will  I  cause  to  shoot  forth  unto  David  a  shoot  of  righteousness  ')  it 
is  a  fig.  designation  of  Israel's  future  ideal  king,  represented  as 
a  sprout  or  shoot ;  and  here  and  in  Zech.  vi,  12,  obviously  on  the 
basis  of  the  two  passages  of  Jeremiah,  it  is  used  actually'  as  a  title 
of  the  Messiah,  vi.  12,  compared  with  iv.  9,  seems  to  show  that 
Zech.  means  Zerubbabel,  whose  person  is  idealized,  and  who, 
when  the  Temple  is  finished,  and  the  Messianic  age  has  begun, 
will  be  the  supreme  civil  ruler  in  it  (cf.  Hag.  ii.  23).  Observe 
that  the  expression,  Behold,  I  am  bringing,  implies  something 
conceived  as  taking  place  in  the  immediate  future. 

9.  The  meaning  of  the  symbolism  of  this  verse  is  uncertain. 
The  following  are  the  two  most  probable  explanations,  (i)  That 
of  Ewald,  Steiner,  T.  T.  Perowne,  and  Marti  (Comm.)  that 
the  'stone  '  is  the  same  stone  as  that  of  iv.  7,  the  head  or  coping- 
stone  of  the  Temple  :  it  is  lying  in  the  vision  before  Joshua  ;  the 
'seven  eyes'  are  those  of  Yahweh,  symbolizing  (as  in  iv.  10)  His 
all-seeing  providence  ;  they  are  ever  'upon  '  it  (Ezr.  v.  5),  and  it 
will  be  engraven  by  Him  with  some  appropriate  inscription  or 
ornamentation.  The  symbolism  thus  expresses  in  a  word  Yahweh's 
care  for  the  completion  of  the  Temple.  (2)  That  of  We.  and 
Smend,  that  the  '  stone '  is  a  jewel  in  the  diadem  of  the  coming 
Messiah  :  the  seven  *  eyes '  are  seven  facets  upon  it  ;  upon  one  of 
these,  probably  the  central  one,  Yahweh  will  engrave  the  name 
of  the  Messianic  ruler,  i.  e.  Zerubbabel  (see  the  last  note';.  Upon 
this  view,  the  symbolism  declares  how  all  is  ready  for  the  advent 
of  the  Messianic  ruler :  Yahweh  has  even  prepared  the  crown 
that  he  is  to  wear. 

and  I  will  remove,  &c.  With  the  completion  of  the  Temple, 
the  Messianic  age  begins  ;  and  the  first  event  by  which  it  is 
marked  is  the  removal  of  the  people's  sin.  The  prouiise  to  Joshua 
{vv.  7-9)  thus  ends  appropriately  with  words  showing  that 
a  repetition  of  the  Satan's  accusation  {v.  i)  will  be  no  more 
possible.  Freedom  from  sin  is  one  of  the  standing  traits  of  the 
ideal  future,  as  depicted  by  the  prophets :  cf.  Is.  i.  26,  iv.  3-4, 
xxxii.  1-8,  xxxiii.  24  ;  Jer.  xxxi.  33  f  ;  Ez.  xxxvi.  25  f  ;  Dan.  ix.  24. 

in  one  day.  Quickly,  and  completely  :  cf.  Is.  ix.  14,  x.  17, 
xlvii.  9. 

10.  The  general  felicity  which  will  then  prevail. 

shall  ye  call  .  .  .  under  :  i.  e.  call  them  in  tinder  (nnn  •?*<»),  in- 
vite them  to  come  and  sit  under.     To  sit  under  one's  own  vine  and 


ZECHARIAH  4.  i,  2  199 

man  his  neighbour  under  the  vine  and  under  the  fig 
tree. 

And  the  angel  that  talked  with  me  came  again,  and  4 
waked  me,  as  a  man  that  is  wakened  out  of  his  sleep. 
And  he  said  unto  me.  What  seest  thou  ?   And  I  said,  I  2 
have  seen,  and  behold,  a  candlestick  all  of  gold,  with  its 
bowl  upon  the  top  of  it,  and  its  seven  lamps  thereon ; 

fig  tree  implies  peace  and  security  (i  K.  iv.  25  [Heb.  v.  5]  ;  i  Mace, 
xiv.  12,  of  the  days  of  Simon) :  here  a  characteristic  trait  of  the 
Messianic  age,  borrowed  from  Mic.  iv.  4.     Cf.  viii.  12. 

iv.  The  fifth  vision.  The  Seven-Branched  Candlestick  and  the 
Two  Olive-Trees.  The  prophet  sees  a  seven-branched  golden 
candlestick,  such  as  stood  afterwards  in  the  Second  Temple,  with 
seven  lamps,  fed  by  seven  pipes  from  a  bowl  or  reservoir  of  oil 
standing  above  them,  and  two  olive  trees  standing  beside  it,  one 
on  each  side,  which  if  v.  12  is  genuine)  supplied  oil  to  the 
reservoir  (comp.  the  illustration  in  Wright,  p.  84).  Vv.  6-10 
contain  an  encouragement  addressed  to  Zerubbabel  :  difficulties, 
it  is  said,  will  disappear  before  him,  and  in  spite  of  mockers,  he 
will  himself  finish  the  Temple  which  he  has  now  begun. 

The  vision  is  a  difficult  one,  and  has  been  very  differently 
interpreted.  Taking  the  text  as  it  stands,  the  candlestick  with  its 
seven  lamps  is  generally  supposed  to  symbolize  the  restored 
Jewish  Church  shining  with  the  light  of  the  Spirit  (cf.  Rev.  i.  20), 
and  receiving  its  supply  of  Divine  grace  (the  oil)  through  the  two 
channels  of  the  spiritual  and  temporal  power,  Joshua  and  Zerub- 
babel (represented  by  the  two  olive  trees,  with  the  connecting 
spouts  oiv.  12).  In  the  following  notes  the  text  is  first  explained 
in  accordance  with  this  general  view,  a  new  interpretation,  which 
has  much  in  its  favour,  being  given  afterwards. 

1.  and  waked  me,  &c.  The  prophet,  though  still  in  his  trance, 
was  so  affected  by  what  he  had  seen  and  heard  in  the  preceding 
visions,  that  he  seemed  to  himself  to  have  fallen  into  a  state  of 
stupor,  from  which  he  had  to  be  roused  by  the  interpreting  angel, 
before  he  could  become  conscious  of  a  fresh  vision. 

as  a  man,  &c.     He  was  not  roused  actually  out  of  sleep. 

2.  What  seest  thou  ?  introducing  the  description  of  the  vision, 
as  Am.  vii.  8,  viii.  2,  Jer.  i.  n,  13. 

bowl :  i.  e.  reservoir  of  oil. 

seven  lamps.  In  the  Temple  of  Solomon  there  were  ten 
separate  golden  candlesticks  ;i  K.  vii.  49;  cf.  Jer.  Hi.  19)  ;  but  in 
the   Priestly   Code   \^Ex.    xxv.    31-40)   a  single   seven-branched 


200  ZECHARIAH  4.  3-7 

a  there  are  seven  pipes  to  each  of  the  lamps,  which  are 

3  upon  the  top  thereof :  and  two  oHve  trees  by  it,  one 
upon  the  right  side  of  the  bowl,  and  the  other  upon  the 

4  left  side  thereof.  And  I  answered  and  spake  to  the 
angel  that  talked  with  me,  saying,  What  are  these,  my 

5  lord  ?  Then  the  angel  that  talked  with  me  answered 
and  said  unto  me,  Knowest  thou  not  what  these  be? 

6  And  I  said.  No,  my  lord.  Then  he  answered  and  spake 
unto  me,  saying,  This  is  the  word  of  the  Lord  unto 
Zerubbabel,  saying,  Not  by  ^  might,  nor  by  power,  but 

7  by  my  spirit,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts.     Who  art  thou, 

*  The  Sept.  and  Vulgate  have,  and  seven  pipes  to  the  lamps. 
^  Or,  an  army 


candlestick,  also  of  gold,  is  prescribed, — the  lamps  of  which, 
however,  were  not,  like  those  in  the  vision,  supplied  with  oil  from 
a  reservoir,  but  were  trimmed  and  fixed  on  daily  (Ex.  xxvii.  20 
RVm.,  21)  by  the  priests  ;  and  a  candlestick  of  the  same  kind 
stood  in  the  Second  Temple,  as  we  learn  from  i  Mace.  i.  23,  iv.  49, 
and  from  the  representation  on  the  Arch  of  Titus. 

seven  pipes  to  eaoli  of  the  lamps.  To  symbolize,  it  has 
been  supposed,  the  plentiful  supply  of  oil.  But  the  number, 
which  would  obviously  give  forty-nine  pipes  in  all,  is  improbably 
large  ;  and  LXX  and  Vulg.  Tcited  on  RVm.)  are  most  likely  right 
in  reading  seven  pipes  to  the  lamps,  i.  e.  one  to  each. 

upon  the  top  thereof:  i.  e.  upon  the  top  of  the  candlestick. 
But  we    should    expect  simply   ttpon   it  (n^br,    as  just   before, 
*  thereon '). 
4.  The  prophet  inquires  the  meaning  of  the  seven  lamps. 

And  I  answered :  i.e.  began,  in  the  sense  explained  on  i.  12. 
6-10.  Promises  to  Zerubbabel. 

6.  This  is  the  word,  &c.  If  the  text  is  here  in  order  (see 
below)  the  meaning  must  be.  This  is  the  teaching  of  the  vision, 
it  is  a  message  from  Yahweh  to  Zerubbabel. 

Not  by  might,  &c.  Zerubbabel  will  accomplish  the  work 
that  he  has  in  hand,  not  by  human  '  might.'  or  'power,'  but  by 
the  spirit  of  Yahweh  (Hag.  ii.  5)  strengthening  him. 

*7.  Who  art  thou,  &c.  :  i.  e.  whatever  obstacles  or  difficulties 
may  arise  to  impede  Zerubbabel  in  his  work,  they  will  disappear 
before  him.  The  apathy  of  the  people,  and  the  opposition  of  the 
Samaritans  and  others,  had  indeed,  at  any  rate  for  the  time,  been 


ZECHARIAH  4.  8-10  201 

O  great  mountain  ?  before  Zerubbabel  thou  shalt  become 
a  plain  :  and  he  shall  bring  forth  the  head  stone  with 
shoutings  of  Grace,  grace,  unto  it.     Moreover  the  word  8 
of  the   Lord   came   unto   me,   saying,   The   hands   of  9 
Zerubbabel  have  laid  the  foundation  of  this  house ;  his 
hands  shall  also  finish  it ;  and  thou  shalt  know  that  the 
Lord  of  hosts  hath  sent  me  unto  you.     For  who  hath  ic 
despised  the  day  of  small  things  ?  for  they  shall  rejoice, 
and  shall  see  the  plummet  in  the  hand  of  Zerubbabel, 

overcome,  and  the  building  was  in  progress  :  but  there  might  still 
be  reason  to  fear  these  or  similar  hindrances  recurring. 

lie  shall  bring-  fortli,  &c.  I.  e.  he  will  complete  the  building 
of  the  Temple  amid  the  acclamations  of  the  multitude  :  Zerubbabel 
will  bring  forth  in  triumph,  from  the  workshop  in  which  it  had  been 
hewn  into  shape,  the  head  stone, — the  final  coping-stone  of  the 
entire  fabric, — with  shoutings  of  Beautiful!  beautiful!  (Now., 
Marti),  i.  e.  amid  the  applause  and  admiration  of  the  people, 
as  they  see  their  Temple  at  last  completed.  '  Beautiful,  beautiful ! ' 
is  lit.  Grace  (i.  e.  graciousness,  beauty,  as  Prov.  i.  9  '  a  chaplet  of 
grace,'  iv.  9),  grare  to  it !  However,  the  words  might  also  mean 
Favour,  favour  to  it !  (Hitz.,  Ew.,  Keil),  i.e.  May  all  favour  it ! 
'  Faveat  ei  Deus,  faveant  homines  !  * 

8-9.  A  further  promise,  given  through  the  prophet,  that  as 
Zerubbabel  has  begun  the  Temple,  so  he  will  assuredly  finish  it : 
the  fulfilment  of  this  prediction  will  be  evidence  that  Zechariah  has 
not  spoken  of  himself,  but  has  been  truly  sent  by  Yahweh  (cf.  Dt. 
xviii.  22). 

9.  thou  Shalt  know :  Read,  in  accordance  with  the  following 
*  you,'  ye  shall  know. 

hath  sent  me  unto  you.     Cf.  ii.  9,  11^,  vi.  15. 

10.  The  verse,  as  the  text  stands,  will  mean  (Keil),  For  who  ever 
despised  the  day  of  small  things  ?  i.  e.  No  one  who  desires  to 
accomplish,  or  does  accomplish,  anything  great,  despises  the  day 
of  small  beginnings  ;  and  these  seven,  (even)  the  eyes  of  Yahweh,— 
they  run  to  and  fro  through  the  whole  earth, — will  rejoice  and  see 
(i.e.  will  see  with  joy)  the  plummet  in  the  hand  of  Zerubbabel: 
the  verse  as  a  whole  thus  meaning,  '  If  no  one  despises  the  small 
beginnings  of  the  Temple,  then  Yahweh  will  watch  with  joy 
the  progress  of  the  work,  and  assist  it  with  His  blessing.'  But 
the  sense  thus  obtained  implies  a  strained  interpretation  of  the 
words  used  ;  and  the  second  part  of  the  verse  is  very  imperfectly 
connected  with  the  first :  see  pp.  203  f. 


202  ZECHARIAH  4.  11-13 

even  these  seven,  which  are  the  eyes  of  the  Lord  ;  they 

II  run  to  and  fro  through  the  whole  earth.    Then  answered 

I,  and  said  unto  him,  What  are  these  two  oHve  trees 

upon  the  right  side  of  the  candlestick  and  upon  the  left 

i:  side  thereof?  And  I  answered  the  second  time,  and  said 

unto  him,  What  be  these  two  olive  branches,  «•  which 

are  beside  the   two   golden   spouts,   that   empty   ^the 

13  golden  oil  out  of  themselves  ?   And  he  answered  me  and 

said,  Knowest  thou  not  what  these  be?  And  I  said.  No, 

*  Or,  which  by  means  of  the  two  golden  spouts  empty 
^  Heb.  the  gold. 

they  run  to  and  fro  throug-h  the  whole  earth:    and  see 

consequently  every  danger,  from  whatever  quarter  it  may  arise, 
which  may~  threaten  the  progress  of  the  building  (Hitzig).  Cf. 
3  Chr.  xvi.  9  (an  evident  reminiscence  of  the  present  passage)  ; 
Rev.  v.  6  :  also,  for  the  general  thought,  Prov.  xv.  3. 

11.  12.  The  prophet  now  inquires  the  meaning  of  the  two 
olive-trees  {y.  3)  ;  and  then,  struck  by  the  two  *  spikes,'  which, 
as  it  seems,  supplied  oil  from  the  olive  trees,  through  two  golden 
spouts,  to  the  reservoir  of  the  candlestick,  asks  more  particularly 
to  have  the  meaning  of  these  explained  to  him. 

12.  these  two  olive  spikes  (Pusey).  Apparently  the  extreme 
ends  of  fruit-laden  boughs ;  for  elsewhere  the  Hebrew  word 
always  means  an  *  ear'  (of corn),  as  Gen.  xli.  5. 

the  g-olden  oil.  Lit.  *  the  gold,' — a  very  strange  expression 
for  'golden  oil.'  Perhaps  some  words  have  dropped  out  and  we 
should  read,  'that  empty  out  of  themselves  [the  oil  into]  the 
[bowl  of]  gold.'  Targ.  has  '  into  the  lamps  of  gold,'  LXX  either 
read  or  understood  '  the  pipes  of  gold  '  {v.  2). 

that  empty,  &c.  :  as  it  seems,  into  the  '  bowl'  oi v.  z. 

out  of:  lit.  'from  upon,'  as  *  spouts'  would  do. 

13.  The  same  reply,  expressing  surprise  that  Zechariah  should 
not  understand  the  symbolism,  as  in  v.  5. 

these:  i.e.  the  olive  trees  of  z;.  11. 

14.  the  two  sons  of  oil.  The  Heb.  word  (yi'ahdr),— the  word 
used  in  Dt.  vii.  13,  xi.  14,  &c., — denotes  the  freshly  expressed  juice 
of  the  olive  ;  and  is  not  the  word  (s/ie'men)  which  denotes  the  oil 
as  prepared  for  use,  and  ready,  for  example,  to  be  employed  for 
a  lamp  (Ex.  xxv.  6),  or  in  anointing  (i  S.  ;c.  i).  The  expression 
is  commonly  understood  (e.g.  by  Ew.,  Hitz.,  Keil)  to  mean  the 
two  anointed  ones,  and  to  symbolize  Joshua  (as  the  anointed 
high-priest.    Lev.    iv.   3)   and    Zcrubbabel,   as   representing    re- 


ZECHARIAH  4.  14  203 

my  lord.  Then  said  he,  These  are  the  two  sons  of  oil, 
that  stand  by  the  Lord  of  the  whole  earth. 

spectively  the  priestly  and  kingly  offices,  the  channels  by  which, 
U  V.  IS  is  genuine  (see  below),  Israel  (symbolized  by  the  lamps) 
is  kept  supplied  with  the  Divine  spirit  (symbolized  by  the  oil). 
'Sons  of  oil'  would ,  however,  suggest  rather  the  idea  of/ull  of  oil, — 
as  indeed  an  olive  tree  might  be  metaphorically  said  to  be, — than 
anointed  with  oil :  cf.  p.  204  '. 

that  stand  by,  &c. :  characterizing  the  two  'sons  of  oil'  as 
Yahweh's  servants  :  see  Jud.  iii.  19 ;  i  K.  xxii.  19.  The  expression 
hardly  differs  from  '  stand  before,'  iii.  4. 

the  Lord  of  the  whole  earth:  as  vi.  5,  Josh.  iii.  11,  13, 
Mic.  iv.  13,  Ps.  xcvii.  5. 

It  can  hardly  have  escaped  the  reader's  notice  that  vv.  6-14,  as 
they  have  been  now  explained,  do  not  in  parts  yield  a  satisfactory 
sense.  In  v.  6  <  This  is  the  word,'  &c.,  is  not  a  natural  answer  to 
the  question  asked  in  v.  4  ;  vv.  6  (from  'This  is  the  v^^ord')-io* 
in  fact  interrupt  the  explanation  of  the  vision  with  a  different 
subject  altogether,  viz.  the  promise  to  Zerubbabel ;  and  v.  10 
yields  an  improbable  sense,  to  say  nothing  of  the  awkwardness 
of  the  Hebrew  (from  n^N  nyivr),  rendered  as  it  must  be  rendered, 
with  the  text  as  it  stands.  On  the  other  hand,  as  Wellhausen 
was  the  first  to  perceive,  the  words  in  v.  10,  which  are  so 
awkward  where  they  now  stand,  would  form  a  perfectly  natural 
answer  to  the  question  in  z/.  4  ;  and  if  it  might  be  assumed  that 
the  promise  to  Zerubbabel  in  vv.  6-10*  had  become  misplaced, 
and  that  it  was  originally  an  independent  prophecy,  standing 
perhaps  at  the  end  of  the  chapter,  all  would  run  smoothly.  We 
should  then  have,  viz.  : — '  "And  he  answered  and  spake  unto  me, 
saying,  '*'  ^  These  seven  are  the  eyes  of  Yahweh,  which  run  to 
and  fro  through  the  whole  earth.  ^'Then  answered  I,  and  said 
unto  him,  What  are  these  two  olive  trees  upon  the  right  side  of 
the  candlestick  and  upon  the  left  side  thereof?  ['^  And  I  answered 
a  second  time  and  said  unto  him,  What  be  these  two  olive  spikes, 
which  are  beside  the  two  golden  spouts,  that  empty  the  gold(en 
oil)  out  of  themselves  ?]  *^  And  he  answered  me  and  said,  Knowest 
thou  not  what  these  be?  And  I  said,  No,  my  lord.  i*Then  said 
he.  These  are  the  two  sons  of  oil,  that  stand  by  the  Lord  of  the 
whole  earth. 

'  The  use  of  the  expression  *  the  two  olive  trees  and  the  two 
candlesticks,  standing  before  the  Lord  of  the  earth,'  in  Rev.  xi.  4, 
of  the  two  *  witnesses '  (probably  Moses  and  Elijah  :  notice  v.  6), 
though  both  figures  are  evidently  suggested  by  this  vision  of  Zcchariah, 
does  not  throw  light  on  the  meaning  of  its  symbolism. 


204  ZECHARIAH  4.  14 

^^  This  is  Yahweh's  word  to  Zerubbabel,  saying,  Not  by  might, 
nor  by  force,  but  by  my  spirit,  saith  Yahweh  of  hosts.  "'  Who  art 
thou,  O  great  mountain  ?  before  Zerubbabel  be  thou  a  plain  !  and 
he  shall  bring  forth  the  top  stone  with  shoutings  of  Beautiful ! 
beautiful  !  *  And  Yahweh's  word  came  unto  me  saying,  '  The 
hands  of  Zerubbabel  have  founded  this  house,  and  his  hands  shall 
finish  it ;  and  ye  shall  know  that  Yahweh  of  hosts  hath  sent  me 
unto  you.  ^"  For  whosoever  hath  despised  the  day  of  small 
things,  they  shall  see  with  joy  the  plummet  in  the  hands  of 
Zerubbabel.' 

This  view  of  the  original  form  of  the  passage  has  been  accepted 
by  Nowack,  G.  A.  Smith,  and  Marti.  If  it  is  correct,  the  seven 
lamps  {v.  2)  will  symbolize  Yahweh's  eyes,  which,  on  the  one 
hand,  sweep  through  the  whole  earth  to  descry  approaching 
danger  or  trouble,  and  to  protect  and  deliver  His  loyal  servants 
(see  especially  a  Chr.  xvi.  9),  and,  on  the  other  hand,  are  specially 
present  in  Israel,  to  watch  over  and  defend  it.  V.  12  is  regarded 
by  Wellh.,  Nowack,  and  Marti  as  an  interpolation  :  not  only  is  the 
object  of  the  re-formulation  of  the  question  in  v.  11  far  from 
apparent,  but  the  verse  describes  the  candlestick  quite  differently 
from  vv.  2,  3,  and  is  also  entirely  disregarded  by  the  angel  in  his 
answer,  v.  14  ;  //,  moreover,  it  is  true  that  the  lamps  symbolize 
Yahweh's  eyes,  it  is  incredible,  whatever  the  '  sons  of  oil '  in  v. 
14  signify,  that  these  can  be  regarded  as  supplying  them  with 
brightness  and  light.  If  v.  la  is  an  interpolation,  it  must  be 
supposed  that  the  olive  trees  in  v.  3  were  (incorrectly)  assumed 
to  be  intended  for  the  purpose  of  supplying  the  lamps  with  oil, 
and  that  this  verse  was  added  in  order  to  express  this  more 
distinctly.  Of  course  i(  v.  12  be  omitted,  the  olive  trees  of  v.  3 
merely  stand  beside  the  candlestick  ;  they  are  otherwise  uncon- 
nected with  it,  and  do  not  supply  the  lamps  with  oil.  And  the 
object  of  this  part  of  the  vision,  as  a  whole,  will  be  now  to  show 
how  Joshua  and  Zerubbabel, — who,  as  before,  are  symbolized  by 
the  two  olive  trees, — (i)  stand  under  Yahweh's  ever-watchful 
protection  {v.  10*'),  and  (2)  are — not  channels  of  Divine  grace  to 
Israel,  but — {v.  14)  filled  themselves  with  Yahweh's  spirit  (symbol- 
ized by  the  '  oil,"  cf.  Is.  Ixi.  i). 

In  the  paragraph  which  now  follows  (vv.  6**-io*),  the  promise 
to  Zerubbabel  will  be  interpreted  exactly  as  explained  above,  only 
V.  10*  will  have  a  clearer  and  better  sense  :  it  will  form  a  suitable 
close  to  the  entire  promise,  declaring  how  those  who  once  scoffed 
at  the  small  beginnings  of  the  Temple  will  rejoice  when  at  length 
they  see  Zerubbabel  fix  the  top-stone  in  its  place.  And  the 
•  plummet '  will  now  be,  not  the  plummet  by  which  the  building, 
as  course  after  course  of  stone  is  added  to  it,  is  kept  perpendicular, 
but  (Smith,  p.  301)  the  plummet  laid  to  it  for  the  last  time  to  test 
the  straightness  of  the  top-stone. 


ZECHARIAH  5.  1-3  205 

Then   again   I   lifted   up  mine   eyes,   and  saw,  and  5 
behold,  a  flying  roll.     And  he  said  unto  me.  What  seest  2 
thou  ?   And  I  answered,  I  see  a  flying  roll ;  the  length 
thereof  is  twenty  cubits,   and  the   breadth   thereof  ten 
cubits.     Then  said  he  unto  me,  This  is  the  curse  that  3 
goeth  forth  over  the  face  of  the  whole  land :  for  every 
one  that  stealeth  shall  be  purged  out  ^on  the  one  side 

*  Or,  from  hence 

V.  The  two  visions  described  in  this  chapter  both  emphasize 
and  develop  the  thought  of  iii.  9,  the  removal  viz.  of  sin  from 
Israel  in  the  Messianic  age. 

1-4.  The  sixth  vision.  The  Flying  Roll.  The  prophet  sees  a 
large  roll  flying  through  the  air.  It  is  inscribed  with  curses  for 
sins  committed ;  and  it  enters  the  house  of  every  thief  and 
perjurer  in  the  land,  and  destroys  it.  The  vision  is  intended  to 
symbolize  the  complete  extermination  of  sinners  from  the  Israel 
of  the  future. 

1.  a  ilying*  roll:  viz.  of  skin  or  parchment,  the  material 
ordinarily  used  for  writing  on.  The  flight  of  the  roll  signified  the 
swift  coming  of  punishment  ;  its  flying  from  heaven  (cf.  v.  4),  that 
the  sentence  proceeded  from  the  judgement-seat  above  (T.  T. 
Perowne). 

2.  And  he  said:  viz.  the  interpreting  angel  (i.  9,  &c). 

the  leusrth  thereof,  &c.  The  colossal  size  of  the  roll,  some 
thirty  feet  long  by  fifteen  broad,  is  an  indication  of  the  number  of 
curses  inscribed  upon  it.  From  the  dimensions  given,  it  is  evident 
that  it  must  be  pictured  not  as  wound  up,  but  as  unrolled,  and 
forming  a  huge  oblong  sheet.  The  dimensions  specified  have  no 
particular  significance ;  they  merely  indicate  that  the  roll  is  a 
very  large  one. 

3.  4.  The  explanation  of  the  vision.  The  curse  goes  out 
over  the  whole  land,  and  brings  punishment  upon  every  thief  and 
perjurer  in  it. 

3.  purg-edout:  better,  cleared  or  emptied  out  (Is.  iii.  26  RVm.). 
Every  thief  and  perjurer  on  the  one  side  and  on  the  other  side  *,  i.e. 
wherever  he  may  be  in  the  land,  is  cleared  away,  or  utterly 
destroyed,  according  to  the  curse  written  in  the  roll,  when  it 
alights  upon  him.  The  verb  nikkdh  is,  however,  more  frequently 
used  in  the  fig.  sense  of,   to  clear  from  guilt,  hold  guiltless,  leave 

^  RVm.  from  hence  is  a  legfitimate  alternative ;  but  the  repeti- 
tion of  rro  creates  a  presumption  that  it  has  the  force  of  on  this  side 
and  on  that  side  (cf.  Ex.  xvii.  12;  Nu.  xxii.  24). 


2o6  ZECHARIAH  5.  4 

according  to  it ;  and  every  one  that  sweareth  shall  be 
purged  out  *on  the  other  side  according  to  it.  I  will 
cause  it  to  go  forth,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  and  it  shall 
enter  into  the  house  of  the  thief,  and  into  the  house 
of  him  that  sweareth  falsely  by  my  name :  and  it  shall 
abide  in  the  midst  of  his  house,  and  shall  consume  it 
with  the  timber  thereof  and  the  stones  thereof. 

■  Or y  from  hence. 

tmpunished;  hence  Now.,  Marti,  following  a  suggestion  of 
Wellhausen's,  read  rros  rn  for  rrb3  mr?  and  render :  '  for  how 
long  hath  every  one  that  stealeth  been  unpunished  !  and  how 
long  hath  every  one  that  sweareth  (falsely)  been  unpunished !  * ' 
i.  e.  crime  has  hitherto  been  practised  with  impunity  :  henceforth 
(v.  4)  that  will  no  longer  be  the  case. 

that  sweareth.  The  meaning  must  be  t/iat  sweareth  falsely, 
even  if  the  words  '  by  my  name  falsely '  (see  v.  4)  have  not 
accidentally  fallen  out  (We.,  Novt^.,  Marti)  ^  The  two  sins 
specified  correspond  to  the  third  and  eighth  commandments  :  but 
they  are  manifestly  typical  of  transgression  in  general. 

4.  I  have  broug-ht  it  out  .  .  .  and  it  shall  enter,  &c.  Yahweh 
has  brought  it  out ;  and  it  will  alight  with  destructive  effect  upon 
every  thief  and  perjurer  in  Israel.  'Perhaps  in  ancient  times 
curses  were  written  on  small  pieces  of  parchment,  and  committed 
to  the  wind,  that  they  might  alight  upon  the  houses  of  those 
against  whom  they  were  directed'  (Smend). 

shall  abide,  &c.  It  will  take  up  its  abode  there,  till  it  has 
effected  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  sent. 

and  consume  it.  The  destruction  of  the  tent  or  house  is  an 
old  form  of  punishment  (cf.  Dan.  ii.  5),  and  is  equivalent  to  the 
exclusion  of  the  offender  and  his  family  from  the  community  to 
which  they  belong  (We.). 

5-11.  77?^  seventh  vision.  The  Woman  in  the  Barrel.  The 
prophet  sees  an  Ephah,  in  which,  as  shortly  appears,  a  woman,  the 
personification  of  wickedness,  is  seated.  Two  winged  women 
then  come  forward,  carry  away  the  Ephah,  and  deposit  it  in 
Babylonia.  The  vision  supplements  the  preceding  one,  declaring 
that  not  only  the  sinner,  but  wickedness,  the  living  principle  of 
sin,  is  to  be  permanently  banished  from  the  Israel  of  the  future. 

*  ni,  '  now,'  as  Gen.  xxxi.  3S,  &c. ;  Zech.  vii.  3  {Lex.  p.  261  *") ; 
but  there  is  no  other  case  of  m  being  so  used  with  nr)3  alone. 

*  To  smear  by  Yahweh's  name,  expressed  absolutely,  is  not  a  sin, 
but  a  mark  of  loyalty  to  Him  (Dt.  vi.  13). 


ZECHARIAH  5.  5-8  207 

Then  the  angel  that  talked  with  me  went  forth,  and  5 

said  unto  me,  Lift  up  now  thine  eyes,  and  see  what 

is  this  that  goeth  forth.     And  I  said,  What  is  it  ?    And  6 

he  said,  This  is  the  ephah  that  goeth  forth.     He  said 

moreover,  This  is  their  ^  resemblance  in  all  the  land : 

(and  behold,  there  was  lifted  up  a  ^  talent  of  lead  :)  and  7 

this  is  a  woman  sitting  in  the  midst  of  the  ephah.     And  8 

he  said,  This  is  Wickedness ;  and  he  cast  her  down  into 

•  Heb.  eye.     According  to  some  ancient  authorities,  iniquity, 
^  Or,  round  piece 

6.  went  forth  :  rather,  came  forth.  After  the  close  of  the  last 
vision  he  vanished  into  the  surrounding  darkness  :  now  he  comes 
forth  from  it  into  view  of  the  prophet. 

and  see,  &c.  The  word  'ephah'  has  probably  fallen  out; 
and  it  is  better  to  read,  and  see  this  ephah  that  cometh  forth, 
viz.  into  the  prophet's  field  of  vision.  The  ephah  was  equivalent 
to  about  seven  gallons  ;  it  was  consequently  of  considerable  size. 
From  V.  7  it  appears  that  it  had  a  circular  lid  ;  so  that  it  may 
naturally  be  supposed  to  have  been  shaped  like  a  barrel. 

6.  Read  (for  the  whole  vei-se)  :  And  I  said,  What  is  it?  And 
he  said,  This  is  their  iniquity  in  all  the  land.  The  angel's  first 
answer, — at  least,  if  the  emended  text  oiv.  5  is  accepted, — is  tauto- 
logous  ;  and,  in  any  case,  the  double  answer  is  awkward  and  im- 
probable. The  ephah,  the  angel  says,  contains  the  whole 
iniquity  of  the  land.  The  Hebrew  text,  resemblance  (lit.  eye,  fig. 
appearance,  Nu.  xi.  7  ;  Lev.  xiii.  55),  is  understood  to  mean  (Keil), 
This  is  the  appearance  which  the  wicked  in  the  whole  land  will 
present,  after  the  roll  of  curses  {vv.  1-4)  has  passed  over  it ;  they 
will  all,  as  it  were,  be  concentrated  in  the  ephah.  But  this 
explanation  is  very  forced  ;  and  it  is  far  better  to  read,  with  LXX, 
their  iniquity  (2;w)  for  their  eye  (cyr). 

a  talent  of  lead.  Or,  more  clearly,  a  round  plate  of  lead, 
which,  as  the  sequel  shows,  proved  to  be  the  lid  or  cover  of  the 
ephah.  As  the  text  stands,  the  first  part  of  the  verse  is  a 
parenthesis  describing  what  took  place,  and  the  second  part  con- 
tinues the  angel's  words  in  v.  5,  describing  what  he  saw,  as  soon 
as  the  circular  plate  of  lead  was  lifted  off  the  top  of  the  ephah. 
But  probably  we  should  read,  with  LXX  (without  the  parenthesis), 
And  behold,  a  round  plate  of  lead  was  lifted  tip ;  and  lo,  a  woman 
sitting,  &c.      The  talent  was  called  a  '  round  '  from  its  shape. 

8.  The  woman  is  said  to  be  Wickedness,  i.  e.  she  represents  and 
personifies  the  entire  wickedness  of  the  land.     As  she  apparently 


2o8  ZECHARIAH  5.  9-11 

the  midst  of  the  ephah  :  and  he  cast  the  weight  of  lead 
9  upon  the  mouth  thereof.     Then  Hfted  I  up  mine  eyes, 

and  saw,  and  behold,  there  came  forth  two  women,  and 

the  wind  was  in  their  wings  :  now  they  had  wings  like 

the   wings   of  a  stork :   and  they  lifted  up  the  ephah 
10  between  the  earth  and  the  heaven.     Then  said  I  to  the 

angel  that  talked  with  me,  Whither  do  these  bear  the 
I !  ephah  ?  And  he  said  unto  me,  To  build  her  an  house  in 

the  land  of  Shinar :  and  when  it  is  *  prepared,  she  shall 

be  set  there  ^  in  her  own  place. 

*  Or,  established  ^  Or,  upon  her  own  base 


raises  herself  up,  and  seeks  to  escape  from  the  ephah,  she  is 
thrust  back  by  the  angel,  and  the  heavy  leaden  top  is  forced 
down  upon  her. 

the  weight.  Lit.  '  the  stone,'  stones  having  been  originally 
used  as  weights.     So  Dt.  xxv,  13,  15  Heb,,  Prov.  xi.  i  Heb. 

9.  Two  women,  with  large  outspread  wings,  inflated  with  the 
wind,  i.  e.  adapted  and  ready  to  travel  swiftly,  appear,  and  lift  up 
the  ephah,  preparatory  to  carrying  it  away.  No  meaning  attaches 
to  the  number  '  two,'  any  more  than  to  the  '  wings '  of  the  women  : 
the  ephah,  with  its  heavy  cover,  would  naturally  require  more 
than  one  person  to  lift  it  up. 

like  the  wing's  of  a  stork.  The  stork  is  a  migratory  bird, 
with  powerful  wings,  capable  of  flying  over  long  distances  :  every 
spring,  on  their  return  to  Palestine  (Jer.  viii.  7),  they  appear  in 
great  numbers  flying  high  up  in  the  sky  (Tristram,  NHB.  246). 

10.  11.  In  answer  to  his  inquiry,  the  prophet  is  told  that  the 
ephah  is  to  be  transported  to  Babylonia,  where  it  is  to  find  a  per- 
manent resting-place.  The  meaning  obviously  is,  that  sin,  which 
has  hitherto  been  so  active  in  Judah  and  wrought  there  so  much 
ruin,  is  henceforth  to  be  banished  permanently  to  Babylonia,  the 
country  of  Israel's  deadly  foe,  and  the  proper  home  of  all  that 
is  evil. 

11.  Shin'ar.  A  Hebrew  name  of  Babylonia,  of  uncertain 
origin  (Gen.  xi.  2;    Is.  xi.  11  a/.). 

set :  i.  e.  set  down,  deposited. 

in  her  own  place.  Hardly  an  improvement  upon  AV.  upon 
her  own  base.  The  word  used  means  a  fixed  resting-place :  it  is 
used  of  the  bases  of  the  ten  la  vers  (i  K.  vii.  27),  or  of  the  base  of 
an  altar  (Ezr.  iii.  3).  The  ephah,  when  the'  house'  in  Babylonia 
is  ready  for  it,  is  to  be  deposited  in  it,  on  its  proper  stand  or  base. 


ZECHARIAH  G.  1-3  209 

And  again  I  lifted  up  mine  eyes,  and  saw,  and  behold,  6 
there  came  four  chariots  out  from  between  ^  two  moun- 
tains;   and   the   mountains   were   mountains   of   brass. 
In  the  first  chariot  were  red  horses ;  and  in  the  second  2 
chariot   black  horses ;   and  in  the   third  chariot  white  3 
horses;  and  in  the  fourth  chariot  grisled  ^bay  horses. 

*  Or,  the  two 
^  Or,  strong     The  word  is  omitted  in  the  Syriac. 


vi.  1-8.  The  eighth  vision.  The  Four  Chariots.  The  prophet 
sees  four  chariots,  with  horses  of  different  colour  in  each,  coming 
forth  from  between  two  mountains  of  bronze.  They  represent 
the  four  winds  of  heaven  ;  and  they  come  forth  with  their  com- 
missions  from  the  presence  of  the  Almighty.  They  are  destined 
for  different  quarters  of  the  earth,  to  check,  viz.,  or  to  overthrow, 
any  power  which  might  threaten  Judah,  wherever  it  might  be  ; 
and  one  chariot  is  commissioned  in  particular  to  execute  Yahweh'a 
anger  upon  the  '  north  '  country  (Babylonia). 

1.  two  znonntains.  The  Heb.  has,  the  two  mountains.  The 
reference  may  be  to  two  mountains  which  the  prophet  had  already 
noticed  in  his  visions,  though  he  had  not  before  mentioned  them 
in  his  descriptions.  They  are  to  be  pictured  {v.  5)  as  near  the 
abode  of  God  :  Marti  compares  Enoch  xviii.  6-10. 

of  brass.  Rather,  of  bronze, — which,  indeed,  was  what  was 
meant  by  *  brass,'  w^hen  AV.  was  made  (Wright's  Bible  Word- 
book, s,  v.). 

2,  3.  The  differently  coloured  horses  in  each  of  the  chariots. 
It  does  not  seem  that  any  significance  attaches  to  the  particular 
colours ;  they  are  rather  simply  intended  to  distinguish  the 
chariots  which  were  to  proceed  to  different  quarters  of  the  earth. 
At  most,  black  might  be  chosen  with  reference  to  the  dark  north 
{v.  6). 

2.  red  :  i.  e.  chestnut,  as  i.  8. 

3.  grisled.  Rather,  dappled  or  spotted.  The  same  word  is 
used  in  Gen.  xxxi.  10,  12  of  goats,  where  it  is  also  misrendered 
grisled.  Grisled  (now  spelt  grizzled)  is  an  archaism,  meaning  ^»X)> 
(Fr.  gris). 

bay.  The  Heb.  word  can  only  be  rendered  'strong.*  There 
must  be  some  error  in  the  text :  for  the  descriptions  of  the  horses 
in  vv.  2,  3  and  vv.  6.  7  do  not  agree,  as  they  should  do  :  the  *  red ' 
horses  are  wanting  in  vv.  6,  7,  while  the  '  dappled  strong '  ones, 
which  are  in  one  chariot  in  v.  3,  are  distributed  between  two 
chariots  in  vv.  6  end,  7  :  'strong,'  moreover,  though  tolerable  in 


2IO  ZECHARIAH  6.  4-7 

4  Then  I  answered  and  said  unto  the  angel  that  talked 

5  with  me,  What  are  these,  my  lord  ?  And  the  angel 
answered  and  said  unto  me,  These  are  the  four  ^  winds 
of  heaven,  which  go  forth  from  l*  standing  before  the 

6  Lord  of  all  the  earth.  The  chariot  wherein  are  the  black 
horses  goeth  forth  toward  the  north  country;  and  the 
white  went  forth  after  them ;  and  the  grisled  went  forth 

7  toward  the  south  country.  And  the  « bay  went  forth, 
and  sought  to  go  that  they  might  walk  to  and  fro  through 

*  Or,  spirits  ^  Or,  presenting  themselves 

*^  Or,  strong    The  Syriac  and  Aquila  have,  red. 

V.  3,  is  unsuitable  in  v.  7,  where  evidently  the  name  of  some  colour 
is  desiderated.    No  doubt  the  Syriac  is  right  in  omitting  *  strong '  in 
V.  3,  and  in  reading  '  red '  (D'D^N)  for  '  strong '  (c^jDt*)  in  v.  7. 
4-6.  The  explanation  of  the  vision. 

5.  from  standing'  before.  Better,  as  marg.,  from  presenting- 
themselves  before  :  i.  e.  from  appearing  before  Him,  to  report 
themselves,  or  receive  His  commands  :  cf.  Jos.  xxiv,  i  ;  Job  i.  6, 
ii.  I.  For  the  winds,  as  Yahweh's  agents,  executing  His  behests, 
cf.  Ps.  civ.  4  ('Who  maketh  winds  his  messengers'),  cxlviii.  8. 
We.,  Now.,  Marti,  however,  adding  a  letter,  read,  'These  are 
going  forth  towards  (Dan.  viii.  8,  xi.  4)  the  four  winds  of  heaven, 
from  standing,'  &c.  ;  in  this  case,  of  course,  the  chariots  no  longer 
represent  the  four  winds,  though  they  are  still  Yahweh's  symbolic 
messengers  (cf.  i.  8ff.). 

6.  toward  the  north  country.     Babylonia.    See  on  ii.  6. 
after  them.    Following  them  into  Babylonia,  as  though  this 

needed  two  chariots,  to  be  dealt  with  effectually.  The  Heb.  is, 
however,  peculiar  ;  and  we  expect  another  direction  to  be  specified. 
Perhaps  (We.,  Now.)  after  them  (onnnN  S^i)  is  a  corruption  of 
to  the  east  country  (aipn  yi«  bx '. 

grisled.     Render,  dappled,  as  v.  3. 

7.  the  bay.     Read,  the  red  {chestnut),  as  v.  2*  :  cf.  on  v.  3. 
and  sought  to  go,  &c.     The  red  horses  display  impatience 

to  course  through  the  earth  in  every  direction  ;  and  they  are  com- 
missioned accordingly  to  do  this.  The  meaning  is  generally 
understood  to  be  that  no  definite  direction  is  assigned  to  them,  in 
order  that  they  may  be  ready  to  attack  any  new  power  which 
may  arise  to  threaten  Israel,  wherever  it  may  show  itself.  But 
again  it  is  difficult  to  avoid  suspecting  the  text  :  v.  5  implies  that 
the  four  chariots  are  intended  to  go  forth  towards  the  four  quarters 
of  the  earth  ;  and  We.,  Now.,  Marti  may  well  be  right  in  reading 


ZECHARIAH  6.8-10  211 

the  earth  :  and  he  said,  Get  you  hence,  walk  to  and  fro 
through  the  earth.     So  they  walked  to  and  fro  through 
the  earth.     Then  cried  he  upon  me,  and  spake  unto  me,  8 
saying.  Behold,  they  that  go  toward  the  north  country 
have  quieted  my  spirit  in  the  north  country. 

And  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  me,  saying,  9 
Take   of  them   of   the    captivity,    even   of  Heldai,    of  10 

(after  *  south  country '  at  the  end  of  v.  6)  ' ;  and  the  red  went 
forth  toward  the  west  country.  And  they  sought  to  go,'  &c.  The 
subject  in  *  they  sought '  will  now  be  the  horses  in  all  the  four 
chariots  :  they  were  all  alike  impatient  to  start  on  their  mission  ; 
and  they  are  all  dispatched  accordingl}'.  For  '  walk  to  and  fro,' 
i.  e.  to  patrol,  cf.  i.  10. 

8.  The  interpreting  angel  calls  the  prophet's  attention  to  what 
has  been  done  by  the  horses  dispatched  into  the  north  country. 

cried  npou  me.  An  archaism  for  'cried  to  me,'  still  current 
colloquially  in  Scotland.     See  the  Additional  Note  on  p.  226. 

have  quieted  my  spirit,  &c.,  i.  e.  have  pacified  my  anger 
('spirit,'  as  Jud.  viii.  3  RVm.,  Eccl.  x.  4),  by  pouring  it  forth 
upon  Babylonia.  Cf.  for  the  expression  Ez.  v.  13  'And  my  anger 
shall  be  accomplished,  and  I  will  satisfy  {lit.  'quiet')  my  fury  upon 
them,  and  I  will  be  comforted  '  (viz.  by  thus  disburdening  myself), 
xvi.  42  'And  I  will  satisfy  {lit.  'quiet')  my  fury  upon  thee  .  .  .  and 
I  will  be  at  rest,  and  will  be  no  more  vexed.'  For  the  thought  of 
judgement  imminent  specially  upon  Babylonia,  the  centre  of  the 
anti-theocratic  power  of  the  world,  see  ii.  7-9  ;  and  cf.  v.  11. 

9-15.  Historical  appendix.  A  crown  to  be  made,  as  it  seems, 
for  Zerubbabel  :  he  and  Joshua  will  rule  harmoniously  side  by 
side  in  the  Messianic  future.  A  deputation  from  the  Jews  still  in 
Babylon  had  just  arrived  in  Jerusalem  with  gifts,  intended  probably 
as  a  contribution  towards  the  restoration  of  the  Temple  ;  and  the 
prophet  is  commanded  to  take  from  these  gifts  enough  silver  and 
gold  to  make  a  crown  (or  crowns),  either — as  can  hardly  be 
doubted — for  Zerubbabel  alone,  or  for  Zerubbabel  and  Joshua,  the 
civil  and  religious  heads  of  the  community  {cf.  chaps,  iii,  iv). 
Zerubbabel  will  successfully  complete  the  building  of  the  Temple 
(cf.  iv.  9)  ;  and  he  and  Joshua  will  then  rule,  the  one  as  Messianic 
king,  and  the  other  as  priest  at  his  side,  in  perfect  concord  with 
each  other. 

10.  of  them  of  the  captivity.  Or,  of  the  gola  (the  company 
of  exiles).  The  term  regularly  applied  to  the  Jews  resident  in 
Babylonia  (Ez.  i.  i;  Ezr.  i.  11,  &c.).  Heldai,  Tobijah,  and 
Zephaniah  formed  the  deputation. 

P  2 


2  12  ZECHARIAH    G.  ii 

Tobijah,  and  of  Jedaiah ;  and  come  thou  the  same  day, 
and  go  into  the  house  of  Josiah  the  son  of  Zephaniah, 
I  whither  they  are  come  from  Babylon  ;  yea,  take  of  them 
silver  and  gold,  and  make  *  crowns,  and  set  them  upon 
the  head  of  Joshua   the   son   of  Jehozadak,  the  high 

*  Or,  a  crown,  and  set  it 


and  come  thon,  &c.  More  exactly,  'and  come  thou  (emph."! 
in  that  day,  and  come  into  the  house  of  Josiah  the  son  of 
Zephaniah,  into  which  they  are  come  from  Babylon,'  or,  more 
naturally,  'who  are  come  from  Babylon.'  The  Hebrew,  as  the 
literal  rendering  at  once  shows,  is  awkward  ;  the  verb  take,  also, 
at  the  beginning  of  the  verse,  has  no  object,  nor  has  any  'day' 
been  mentioned  to  which  in  that  day  might  refer.  In  view  of  the 
difficulties  of  the  passage,  though  the  correction  may  seem  violent, 
there  is  much  to  be  said  in  favour  of  the  proposal  (We.,  Now., 
Marti)  to  read  (after  'and  of  Jedaiah'),  'and  of  Josiah  the  son 
of  Zephaniah,  who  are  come  from  Babylon ' ;  sirtn  era  phs  being 
omitted,  nwi  being  a  corruption  of  nxni  ('  and  from '),  and  n'l  nwi 
being  two  corrupt  repetitions  of  it. 

11.  crowns.  The  Hebrew  word  is  plural;  it  may,  however, 
denote  a  single  'crown'  (RVm. ;  cf.  v.  14),  the  plural  referring 
to  the  several  circlets  of  which  it  might  be  composed.  The  pro- 
noun after  set  is  not  expressed  in  the  Hebrew  :  so  of  course  either 
them  or  it  may  be  supplied.  Whether  one  or  two  crowns  are 
actually  meant  must  thus  depend  upon  the  view  taken  of  the  sequel. 
upon  the  head  of  Joshua,  &c.  The  text  here  must  be  in 
some  way  or  other  at  fault.  In  the  first  place,  the  words  at 
the  end  of  v.  13,  '  and  the  counsel  of  peace  shall  be  between  them 
both,''  makes  it  evident  that  two  personages  must  have  been 
referred  to  in  the  preceding  verses  ;  and  secondly,  the  *  crown  ' — 
or,  if  there  were  two  crowns,  one  of  them — is  evidently  intended 
for  the  '  Shoot,'  or  Messianic  king  (iii.  8),  of  vv.  12,  13,  to  whom  the 
principal  promises  here  given  are  addressed,  whereas  in  the  text 
as  it  stands  it  is  placed  on  the  head  of  the  high-priest  Joshua.  It 
seems,  therefore,  that  one  of  two  corrections  must  be  made.  We 
must  either  (Ewald,  Hitz.,  Stade)  read  in  v.  II^  'and  set  them 
upon  the  head  of  Zerubbabel,  and  upon  the  head  of  Joshua,'  or 
(We.,  Now.,  Smith,  Marti)  omit  v.  11^  (from  '  and  set ')  altogether, 
—in  either  case,  at  the  beginning  of  z;.  12,  reading  'unto  them^ 
(i.  e.  the  persons  mentioned  in  v.  10)  for  '  unto  him.^  The  crown 
—or  (Ewald)  the  principal  crown — was  intended  originally  for 
Zerubbabel,  upon  whom  Haggai  had  already  (ii.  23)  bestowed 
Messianic  promises,  and  who  Zechariah  (see  below,  comparing 


ZECHARIAH    6.  12,13  213 

priest;  and  speak  unto  him,  saying,  Thus  speaketh  the  12 
Lord  of  hosts,  saying,  Behold,  the  man  «■  whose  name 
is  the  ^  Branch ;  and  he  shall  c  grow  up  out  of  his  place, 
and  he  shall  build  the  temple  of  the  Lord:  even  he  13 
shall  build  the  temple  of  the  Lord  ;  and  he  shall  bear 

*  Or,  whose  name  is  the  Bud ;  and  it  (or  they)  shall  bud  forth 
under  him 

''  Or,  Shoot    Or,  Sprotit  «  Or,  shoot 

iv.  9)  expected  would  become  the  Messianic  ruler  of  the  future  : 
since,  however,  as  time  went  on,  the  high-priest,  and  not  a 
descendant  of  David's  line,  became  actually  the  supreme  authority 
in  Israel,  the  text  was  altered  in  accordance  with  the  history  ; 
and  either  (Ewald)  ZerubbabePs  name  was  omitted  or  (We.) 
Joshua's  name  inserted. 

the  man  whose  name  is  (the)  Shoot.     See  on  iii.  8. 

and  he  will  shoot  forth  out  of  his  place :  i.  e.  he  will 
flourish  and  prosper  (Jer.  xxiii.  5),  the  figure  being  suggested  by 
the  name  *  Shoot.'  '  Out  of  his  place '  is  lit.  '  from  underneath 
himself,'  'underneath  oneself  being  a  Hebrew  idiom  for  'where 
one  stands'  (see  on  Hab.  iii.  16)  ;  cf.  Ex.  x.  23  *  and  no  one  rose 
up/;om  underneath  himself  {  =  from  his  place).  The  Hebrew  is, 
however,  ambiguous,  and  might  also  be  rendered  as  on  RVm.  (so 
We.,  Now.,  Marti)  ;  the  meaning  then  being  that  he  will  become 
the  founder  of  a  flourishing  dynasty  (cf.  Jer.  xxxiii.  15-17,  esp. 
V.  17).  But  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  prophet  looks  beyond 
Zerubbabel  himself. 

and  he  shall  build :  i.  e.  Zerubbabel ;  see  iv.  9.  But  the 
clause  is  superfluous  by  the  side  of  the  following  clause  (which,  it 
maybe  observed,  begins  with  the  emphatic  Kini  'and  he'),  and 
is  very  probably  nothing  but  a  faulty  anticipation  of  it. 

13.  'And  he  (emph.)  shall  build  Yahweh's  Temple;  and  he 
(again  emph.)  shall  bear  majesty.'  The  word  rendered  '  majesty' 
(th)  denotes  properly  the  majesty  of  a  king  :  see  Jer.  xxii.  18  end 
(EVV.  'glory')  ;  Ps.  xxi.  5  and  civ.  i  (EVV.,  weakly,  'honour' : 
render  rather  '  majesty  and  state ')  ;  i  Chr.  xxix.  25  (EVV. 
'majesty'). 

the  temple.  This  can  mean  only  the  literal  Temple  (cf. 
V.  14^) :  the  explanation  (Keil,  al.)  that  the  spiritual  Temple — the 
community,  or  Church  of  God  (Eph.  ii.  21)— is  meant,  is  incon- 
sistent with  the  context,  besides  giving  the  word  'Temple'  a 
sense  unknown  to  the  O.  T.,  and  one  which  it  only  acquired  after 
Eph.  ii.  21^  had  been  written  (where  it  comes  in  naturally  as  the 
climax  of  the  Apostle's  figure,  w»  20,  ai*).     But  no  doubt  the 


214  ZECHARIAH   G.  14 

the  glory,  and  shall  sit  and  rule  upon  his  throne;  and 
^  he  shall  be  a  priest  upon  his  throne :  and  the  counsel 
14  of  peace  shall  be  between  them  both.  And  the  ^^ crowns 
shall  be  to  Helem,  and  to  Tobijah,  and  to  Jedaiah,  and 
cto  Hen  the  son  of  Zephaniah,  for  a  memorial  in  the 

*  Or,  there  shall  be  ^  Or,  crown 

*=  Or,  for  the  kindness  of  the  son  &c. 

prophet  does  not  think  here  simply  of  the  actual  Temple,  but  of 
the  actual  Temple  endowed  with  ideal  splendour  (Hag.  ii.  9),  as 
he  thinks  also  of  Joshua  and  Zerubbabel  as  ruling  in  ideal  state. 

and  lie  shall  sit  (i  K.  ii.  12),  &c. :  Zerubbabel  is  pictured 
as  a  king  ruling  in  state  upon  his  throne. 

and  he  shall  be  a  priest,  &c.  This  cannot  be  right :  the 
closing  words  of  the  verse,  *  between  them  both,'  shows  that  two 
persons  must  have  been  mentioned  previously^.  The  least  change 
that  can  be  adopted  must  be,  therefore,  to  read  with  RVm.  ^  and 
there  shall  be  a  priest  upon  his  throne,  with  reference  to  Joshua  ; 
but  it  is  more  than  possible  that  Joshua  was  once  named  here 
explicitly,  and  that  we  should  read,  with  Ew.,  Stade,  We.,  Now., 
Smith,  and  Marti,  'and  Joshua  shall  be  priest  upon  his  throne  [or, 
with  LXX,  Stade,  We.,  Now.,  Smith,  Marti,  'shall  be  priest  ott 
his  right  hand,'' — 'upon  his  throne'  being  repeated  accidentally 
by  error  from  the  previous  line];  and  there  shall  be  counsel  of 
peace  between  them  both,'  i.  e.  Joshua  will  be  priest  beside 
Zerubbabel,  and  there  will  be  complete  harmony  between  them 
both  ;  the  civil  and  religious  heads  of  the  community  will  consult 
together  harmoniously  for  the  welfare  of  their  people.  Are  the 
closing  words  an  indication  that  rivalries  had  already  begun  to 
spring  up  between  them  ?  '  The  (later)  hegemony  of  the  priesthood 
cast  its  shadow  before  '  (Marti). 

14.  The  crown  (or  crowns)  to  be  preserved  afterwards  in  the 
Temple  in  memory  of  the  donors  {v.  10). 

the  crowns.  The  plural  will  be  right  if  both  Zerubbabel  and 
Joshua  were  mentioned  in  v.  11,  the  singular  crown  (RVm.)  if 
there  was  originally  no  name  in  v.  11^,  and  the  '  crown  '  mentioned 
in  V.  II*  was  intended  really  for  Zerubbabel  {vv.  12,  13*). 

Kelem.     The  Syr.  has  Heldai,  no  doubt  rightly  :  see  v.  10. 

Ken.  Apparently  a  corrupt  and  mutilated  fragment  o{  Josiah, 
V.  10.  In  the  abstract,  we  might  render  (cf.  RVm.),  and  for  the 
favour  of  the  son  of  Zephaniah, — with  reference  to  his  hospitable 


^  It   is  incredible  that   'between   them   both'   can    refer   to  one 
person  holding  t-voo  offices. 


ZECHARIAH   6.  15—7.  i  215 

temple  of  the  Lord.     And  they  that  are  far  off  shall  15 
come  and  build  in  the  temple  of  the  Lord,  and  ye  shall 
know  that  the  Lord  of  hosts  hath  sent  me  unto  you. 
And  this  shall  come  to  pass,  if  ye  will  diligently  obey 
the  voice  of  the  Lord  your  God. 

And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  fourth  year  of  king  Darius,  7 

reception  {v.  lo,  as  rendered  in  RV.)  of  the  deputation  from 
Babylonia  ;  but  such  a  rendering  is  not  here  probable  ;  Hen  can 
only  be  taken  naturally  as  a  proper  name,  and  if  so  it  can  scarcely 
be  anything  but  a  corruption  of  '  Josiah '  {y.  lo). 

Zerubbabel  and  Joshua  may  be  regarded  naturally  as  types  of 
Christ,  the  Messianic  expectations  which  Zechariah  attached  to 
them  being  fulfilled  afterwards,  in  a  larger  sense,  by  Him. 

15.  The  building  of  the  temple  will  progress  rapidly:  'far-off 
ones,' — Jews  from  a  distance,  and  perhaps  (cf.  Hag.  ii.  7 ;  Zech.  viii. 
22)  Gentiles  as  well, — will  come  and  assist  in  the  work  ;  and  its 
completion  will  be  evidence  to  the  people  of  Judah  that  the 
prophet  has  been  sent  by  Yahweh  (cf.  ii.  11,  iv.  9^).  The  thought 
may  have  been  suggested  to  the  prophet  by  the  interest  shown  in 
the  Temple  by  the  exiles  who  had  sent  gifts  for  it  from  Babylonia. 

build  in.  Or,  'build  at/  i.e.  assist  in  building  :  the  prep.,  as 
Neh.  iv.  4  Heb.  [EVV.  iv.  10]. 

and  this  shall  come  to  pass,  &c.  There  is  no  *  this  '  in  the 
Hebrew.  The  words  must  be  rendered  as  in  other  exactly 
similar  cases  (Dt.  xi.  13,  xxviii.  i  ;  Jer.  xvii.  24^  :  And  it  shall 
come  to  pass,  if  ye  shall  hearken  diligently  to  the  voice  of 
Yahweh  your  God.  .  .  .  Some  promise  must  have  originally 
followed  ;  but  it  has  been  torn  away  :  the  prophecy  in  its  present 
form  ends  in  the  middle  of  a  sentence. 

Part  HI  (chs,  vii-viii). 

YahweWs  promises,  and  demands,  for  the  future. 

•  The  visions  have  revealed  the  removal  of  the  guilt  of  the  land, 
the  restoration  of  Israel  to  their  standing  before  God,  the  revival 
of  the  great  national  institutions,  and  God's  will  to  destroy  the 
heathen  forces  of  the  world.  With  the  Temple  built,  Israel  should 
again  be  in  the  position  which  she  enjoyed  before  the  Exile, 
Zechariah,  therefore,  proceeds  to  exhort  the  people  to  put  away 
the  fasts  which  the  Exile  had  made  necessary,  and  address 
themselves,  as  of  old,  to  the  virtues  and  duties  of  the  civic  life ' 
(G.  A.  Smith,  p,  320).  He  reminds  them  how  their  forefathers, 
to  their  cost,  had  neglected  those  duties  (cf.  i.  4-6)  ;  but  now,  if 
they  will  obser\'e  them  faithfully,  he  assures  them  of  Yahweh's 


2i6  ZECHARIAH  7.  2,3 

that  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  Zechariah  in  the 

2  fourth  day  of  the  ninth  month,  even  in  Chislev.  »  Now 
they  of  Beth-el  had  sent  Sharezer  and  Regem-melech, 

3  and  their  men,  to  intreat  the  favour  of  the  Lord,  a?id 
to  speak  unto  the  priests  of  the  house  of  the  Lord  of 
hosts,  and  to  the  prophets,  saying,  Should  I  weep  in  the 
fifth  month,  separating  myself,  as  I  have  done  these  so 

*  Or,  Now  they  of  Beih-el,  even  Sharezer  .  .  .  had  sent 

blessing,  he  describes  the  felicity  which  they  will  enjoy,  and  he 
ends  with  a  picture  of  heathen  nations  eagerly  pressing  forward 
to  share  their  blessings. 

vii.  1-3.  The  occasion  of  the  following  prophecy.  In  518,  two 
years  after  the  work  of  rebuilding  the  Temple  had  been  resumed, 
a  deputation  came  to  Jerusalem  to  inquire  of  the  priests  and 
prophets  there  whether  the  fasts  which  had  been  obser\'ed 
during  the  years  of  exile  should  still  be  continued. 

1.  Chislev:  i.e.  Dec-Jan, 

2.  The  text  is  highly  suspicious,  though  it  cannot  be  restored 
with  certainty.  Sharezer  is  an  Assyrian  name  (see  Is.  xxxvii. 
38),  and  must  have  been  given  to  its  bearer  in  Babylon  :  it  means 
'  Protect  the  king,'  the  name  of  the  deity  addressed  *  being  either 
omitted  or  having  dropped  out.  Not  improbably  it  is  concealed 
in  the  preceding  '  Beth-el '  ;  and  we  should  read,  for  instance, 
*  And  Belsharezer  and  Regem-melech  and  his  men  [so  the  Heb.] 
sent  to  intreat,'  &c.,  or,  with  greater  changes  in  the  Heb.,  but  better 
sense,  'And  Belsharezer  sent  Regem-melech  and  his  men'  (We., 
Now.),  or  'And  B.  and  R.  sent  men  '  (Cheyne,  Marti). 

to  intreat  Yahweh's  favour.  Whether  by  supplication 
(Ex.  xxxii.  II  ;  I  K.  xiii.  6;  Jer.  xxvi,  19);  or  sacrifice,  i  S.  xiii.  12, 
and  probably  here. 

3.  Shall  1  weep.  The  '  I  '  represents  the  community :  the 
senders  were  probably  men  of  some  position  in  it. 

the  fifth  month.  The  tenth  of  the  fifth  month  was  observed 
as  a  fast  in  memoi-y  of  the  burning  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Chaldaeans 
in  586  (Jer.  lii.  12,  13). 

separating  myself.  Better,  abstaining,  viz.  from  food  and 
drink. 

now  80  many  years  ?  for  sixty-eight  years,  the  fourth  j-ear 
of  Darius  being  b.  c.  518. 

'  CI.  Bel-shar-uzzur  (Belshazzar)  *0  Bel,  protect  (iii:)  the  king!' 
Nergal-sharezer  (Jer.  xxxix.  i.O,i,e.  N'ergal-shar-uzzur  (Neriglissar), 
'  O  Nergal,  protect  the  king  ! ' 


ZECHARIAH  7.  4-7  217 

many  years  ?  Then  came  the  word  of  the  Lord  of  hosts  4 
unto  me,  saying,  Speak  unto  all  the  people  of  the  land,  5 
and  to  the  priests,  saying,  When  ye  fasted  and  mourned 
in  the  fifth  and  in  the  seventh  months  even  these  seventy 
years,  did  ye  at  all  fast  unto  me,  even  to  me  ?  And  when  6 
ye  eat,  and  when  ye  drink,  «•  do  not  ye  eat  for  yourselves, 
and  drink  for  yourselves?  SJiould ye  not  hear  the  words  7 
which  the  Lord  hath  cried  by  the  former  prophets, 
when  Jerusalem  was  inhabited  and  in  prosperity,  and 

*  Or,  are  not  ye  they  that  eat  &c. 

Yahweh's  answer,  which  now  begins,  falls  into  three  parts  (v.  8 
being  omitted  :  see  the  note\  each  introduced  by  the  words,  And 
Yahweh's  word  came  to  me,  vv.  4-14,  viii.  1-17,  18-23. 

4-7.  Your  fasting  has  had  so  little  reference  to  Yahweh,  that 
He  cares  not  whether  you  fast  or  not  :  what  He  demands,  as  He 
often  told  your  fathers  b}'  the  older  prophets,  is  a  spiritual  service, 
the  service  of  the  heart. 

5.  and  xuonrned.  Rather,  and  wailed, — with  loud  demon- 
strations of  grief,  in  the  Eastern  fashion.  This  is  the  regular 
meaning  of  saphad :  cf.  Mic.  i.  8  '  I  will  make  a  wailing  like  the 
jackals,'  with  palpable  reference  to  the  cries  of  the  wallers. 

in  the  fifth,  month.     See  on  v.  3. 

and  in  the  seventh  month.  In  memory  of  the  murder  of 
Gedaliah,  whom  Nebuchadnezzar  had  made  governor  of  Judah, 
by  fanatic  Jews  at  Mizpah  (see  2  K.  xxv.  23,  25,  or  more  fully 
Jer.  xl.  5,  7,  &c.,  xli.  1,  2). 

even.     The  word  (Heb.  1,  i.  e.  '  and  ')  is  better  omitted. 

did  ye  at  all  fast  unto  me  ?  It  was  a  merely  external 
observance,  as  little  expressive  of  or  conducive  to  the  temper  in 
which  I  delight  as  your  eating  and  drinking  are  (f.  6).  Cf.  Is. 
Iviii.  3-5. 

6.  do  ye  not,  &c.  Lit.  'are  not  ye  the  eaters,  and  ye  the 
drinkers?'  i.e.  the  act  is  limited  entirely  to  yourselves,  it  in  no 
way  affects  me.     Cf.  i  Cor.  viii.  8. 

7.  (Should  ye)  not  (hear).  This  is  a  good  deal  to  supply  ;  the 
LXX  read  preferably,  Are  not  these  the  words,  &c.  (n^s  for  rw ; 
cf.  viii.  16).  The  meaning  is,  This, — i.  e.  Yahweh's  indifference  to 
a  merely  external  ceremonial,  apart  from  the  moral  and  spiritual 
feelings  of  which  it  should  be  the  expression, — is  the  gist  of  what 
the  older  prophets  so  often  preached  (e.g.  Is.  Iviii.  6-12,  on 
fasting;  also  Is.  i.  10-17  ;  Am.  v.  21-24,  &c.). 

the  former  prophets:  i.  e.  the  pre-cxilic  prophets,  as  in  i.  4. 


2i8  ZECHARIAH  7.  8-10 

the  cities  thereof  round  about  her,  and  the  South  and 
the  lowland  were  inhabited  ? 

8  And  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  Zechariah, 

9  saying,  Thus  hath  the  Lord  of  hosts  spoken,  saying, 
Execute  true  judgement,   and   shew  mercy  and   com- 

10  passion  every  man  to  his  brother :  and  oppress  not  the 
widow,  nor  the  fatherless,  the  stranger,  nor  the  poor; 

was  inhabited.  Lit.  'sat,'  in  accordance  with  the  idiom 
explained  on  ii.  4.     So  were  inhabited,  at  the  end  of  the  verse. 

the  South.  Or,  the  Negeb,  a  district  in  the  south  of  Judah, 
often  mentioned  (cf.  Gen.  xii.  9  RVm.),  the  cities  of  which  are 
enumerated  in  Jos.  xv.  21-32  (see  '  Negeb'  in  DB.). 

the  lowland.  Or,  the  Shephelah,  the  technical  name  of 
another  district  of  Judah  (Jos.  xv.  33-44),  comprising  the  low 
hills  and  flat  valley  land  stretching  down  towards  the  Philistine 
plain  in  the  W.  and  SW.  of  Judah  (see  '  Plain  '  7  in  DB.).  Cf. 
Jer.  xiii.  19,  xxxii.  44,  xxxiii.  13. 

8-14.  A  summary  of  the  teaching  of  the  *  former  prophets,' 
vv.  9-10,  followed  by  a  description  of  the  manner  in  which  the 
people  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  it,  and  were  visited  by  Yahweh  in 
consequence  with  disaster  and  exile,  vv.  11-14. 

8.  9.  As  the  text  stands,  the  reference  to  the  teaching  of  the 
former  prophets  is  the  subject  of  a  fresh  revelation  from  Yahweh. 
But  the  connexion  of  this  passage  is  greatly  improved  if  we 
adopt,  with  Now.,  Smith,  and  Marti,  We.'s  illuminative  sug- 
gestion to  omit  V.  8,  as  the  gloss  of  a  scribe  who  did  not  notice 
that  vv.  9^,  10  contained  God's  teaching  by  the  former  prophets  : 
we  then  get,  ' '  These  are  the  words  which  Yahweh  hath  cried  by 
the  former  prophets,  when  Jerusalem  was  inhabited,  &c.  .  .* ;  and 
then  the  words  spoken  by  them  immediately  follow,  ^  *  Thus  saith 
Yahweh  of  hosts,  Execute  true  judgement,'  &c. 

9.  Execute  true  jndgfement.  Lit.  '  Judge  judgement  of  truth.' 
The  expression  y«fl^^^m^;7^  of  truth  occurs  elsewhere  only  Ez,  xviii. 
8  ;  but  the  principle  here  inculcated  is  insisted  on  repeatedly,  from 
the  ancient  '  Book  of  the  Covenant,'  Ex.  xxiii.  6-8,  onwards,  e.  g. 
Am.  V.  12,  16  ;  Is.  i.  17,  v.  23  ;  Dt.  xvi.  19,  20. 

shew  mercy  (or  kindness)  and  compassion,  &c.  Cf.  Hos. 
vi.  6  ;  Mic.  vi.  8. 

10.  The  oppression  of  '  the  widow,  the  fatherless,  and  the 
stranger'  (/;/.  'the  sojourner,'  i.e.  the  foreigner,  settled  more  or  less 
temporarily  in  Israel,  but  possessing  no  legal  status  there)  is 
repeatedly  prohibited  :  Ex.  xxii.  21,  22;  Dt.  xxiv.  17  ;  Is.  i.  17; 
Jer.  vii.  6,  &c. 

nor  the  poor.     Cf  Am.  viii.  4  ;  Is.  iii.  14-15,  x.  2. 


ZECHARIAH  7.  11-14  219 

and  let  none  of  you  imagine  evil  against  his  brother 

in  your  heart.    But  they  refused  to  hearken,  and  *  pulled  n 

away  the  shoulder,  and  ^stopped  their  ears,  that  they 

should  not  hear.     Yea,   they  made  their  hearts  as  an  12 

adamant  stone,  lest  they  should  hear  the  law,  and  the 

words  which  the  Lord  of  hosts  had  sent  by  his  spirit 

by  the  hand  of  the   former  prophets  :   therefore  came 

there  great  wrath  from  the  Lord  of  hosts.     And  it  came  13 

to  pass  that,  as  he  cried,  and  they  would  not  hear ;  so 

they  shall  cry,  and  I  will  not  hear,  said  the  Lord  of 

hosts;  but  I  will  scatter  them  with  a  whirlwind  among  14 

^  Or,  titrned  a  stubborn  shoulder 
^  Or,  made  their  ears  heavy     See  Is.  vi.  10. 

imagfine  evil.     Cf.  Mic.  ii.  i, 
11,  12.  The  obstinate  and  persistent  refusal  of  the  people  to 
listen  to  these  admonitions. 

11.  refused  to  attend.  Cf.  i.  4  ;  Jer.  vi.  10, 17,  i9,xviii.  i8(Heb.). 
pulled  away  the  shoulder.     Lit.  'gave  a  stubborn  (Dt.  xxi. 

18)  shoulder.'     The  same  phrase  in  Neh.  ix.  29.     The  figure  is 
taken  from  an  animal  which  will  submit  tono  j'oke  upon  its  neck  : 
cf.  Hos.  iv.  16  '  For  like  a  stubborn  heifer,  Israel  hath  been  stubborn.'' 
stopped.     Lit.  <made  heavy,'  i.e.  dull,  as  Is.  vi.  10. 

12.  an  adamant  stone.  Perhaps  the  diamond, — in  any  case 
some  very  hard  stone  :  cf.  Jer.  xvii.  i  ;  Ez.  iii.  9,  Cf.  the  'heart 
of  stone'  of  Ez.  xi.  19. 

the  law.  Properly  (cf.  on  Hab.  i.  4  ;  Hag.  ii.  11)  'direction' 
proceeding  from  Yahweh  :  here  in  particular  of  the  precepts  of 
civic  righteousness  and  morality,  inculcated,  for  instance,  so  often 
in  Deuteronomy,  and  by  the  prophets.  The  word  is  used  simi- 
larly in  Is.  i.  10,  V.  24.  There  should  be  no  comma  at  'law'  : 
both  '  the  law '  and  '  the  words  '  are  antecedents  to  '  which.' 

by  his  spirit.  Equipping  the  prophets  for  their  oflBce  :  cf. 
Mic.  iii.  8 ;  Is.  Ixi.  i  ;  also  Neh.  ix.  30. 

great  wrath  :  cf.  i.  2. 

13.  14.     The  consequences  of  Yahweh's  wrath. 

13.  would  not  hear.  The  Hebrew  is  simply  heard  not.  The 
answer  to  '  as  he  cried,'  &c.,  is  given  not  simply  by  '  so  shall  they 
cry,'  but  the  meaning  is,  *  so,  said  Yahweh  of  hosts,  they  shall  cry, 
and  I  will  not  hear.'  Cf.  Jer.  xxxv.  17  :  xi.  11 ;  Mic.  iii.  4  ;  Ez. 
viii.  18. 

14.  but   I   will    scatter  them,    &c.     Continuing    Yahweh's 


220  ZECHARTAH  8.  r-3 

all  the  nations  whom  they  have  not  known.     Thus  the 
land  was  desolate  after  them,  that  no  man  passed  through 
nor  returned :  for  they  laid  the  "-pleasant  land  desolate. 
8      And  the  word   of  the  Lord  of  hosts  came  to  me^ 

2  saying,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts  :  I  am  jealous  for 
Zion  with  great  jealousy,  and  I  am  jealous  for  her  with 

3  great  fury.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  :  I  am  returned  unto 
Zion,  and  will  dwell  in  the  midst  of  Jerusalem  :  and 
Jerusalem  shall  be  called  The  city  of  truth ;  and  the 

^  Heb.  land  of  desire. 


threat  to  the  fathers,  begun  in  v.  13.  But  it  is  better,  changing 
one  point,  to  read  with  Now.  and  Marti,  '  and  I  scattered  them  .  . .  ; 
and  the  land  was  desolate,'  &c. 

scatter  with  a  whirlwind.  In  the  Hebrew,  more  emphati- 
cally, one  word,  whirl  away :  so  Hos.  xiii.  3 ;  Ps.  Iviii.  9 ; 
Job  xxvii.  21. 

whom  they  have  (had)  not  known.  A  favourite  expression 
in  Dt.  and  Jer.,  especially  of  foreign  gods  (as  Dt.  xi.  28) ;  and,  as 
here,  of  a  foreign  nation,  Dt.  xxviii.  33,  36,  and  esp.  Jer.  ix.  16 ; 
of  a  foreign  land,  Jer.  xiv.  18  (RVm.\  xvi,  13  al. 

Thus.     In  the  Hebrew,  simply  And. 

after  them.     When  they  had  left  it. 

that  no  man,  &c.    Cf.  Ez.  xxxv.  7. 

the  pleasant  land.  This  rendering  is  not  strong  enough : 
rather,  the  desirable  or  precious  (Nah.  ii.  9)  land,  on  account,  viz., 
of  its  fertility,  Dt.  viii.  7-10,  &c.  :  so  Jer.  iii.  19  ;  Ps.  cvi.  24. 

viii.  A  decalogue  of  promises,  each  introduced  by  Thus  saith 
Yahweh  (of  Hosts),  and  each  containing  some  word  of  brightness 
and  hope  for  the  Jerusalem  of  the  future:  Yahweh  is  again  full 
of  jealousy  for  His  people  ;  happy  days  are  in  store  for  it, — if  only 
{vv.  16  f.)  it  will  eschew  the  things  that  He  hates  ;  and  its  felicity 
will  attract  the  envy  of  the  nations. 

2.  Yahweh  is  full  of  jealousy  for  Zion,  and  of  wrath  against 
her  heathen  foes.  V.  2^  agrees  almost  verbally  with  i.  14^  ;  with 
V.  2**  cf.  i.  15. 

3.  Yahweh  has  returned  to  Zion.  and  will  again  take  up  His 
abode  in  it  (cf.  i.  i6,  ii.  lo)  :  Jerusalem  will  now  become,  as 
Isaiah  had  promised  (i.  26),  the  '  faithful  city,'  and  the  Temple 
will  be  sanctified  by  His  presence. 

The  city  of  truth.     Better,  of  faithfulness  :  cf.  Is.  i.  26. 


ZECHARIAH  8.  4-8  221 

mountain  of  the  Lord  of  hosts  The   holy  mountain. 
Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts :  There  shall  yet  old  men  4 
and  old  women  »  dwell  in  the  streets  of  Jerusalem,  every 
man  with  his  staff  in  his  hand  '^  for  very  age.     And  the  5 
streets  of  the  city  shall  be  full  of  boys  and  girls  playing 
in  the  streets  thereof.     Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts :  6 
If  it  be  marvellous  in  the  eyes  of  the  remnant  of  this 
people  in  those  days,  should  it  also  be  marvellous  in 
mine  eyes?  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts.     Thus  saith  the  7 
Lord  of  hosts :  Behold,  I  will  save  my  people  from  the 
east  country,  and  from  the  west  country :   and  I  will  s 

^  Or,  sit  ^  Heb./oi'  multitude  of  days. 


Tlie  holy  mountain :  sanctified  by  Yahweh's  presence,  and 
also,  it  is  implied,  secured  thereby  against  presumptuous  foes  (cf. 
Jer.  xxxi.  23;  Ob.  17  ;  Joel  iii.  17). 

4,  5.  The  happiness  and  long  life  (cf.  Is.  Ixv.  20)  of  the  future 
inhabitants  of  Jerusalem.  An  '  immortal  picture,  old  men  and 
women  sitting  in  the  sun,  boys  and  girls  playing  in  all  the  open 
places'  (Smith,  pp.  324 f.)  ;  perhaps  (Jbid.)  drawn  as  a  contrast  to 
the  rough  and  hard  life  of  the  restored  community,  which  gave  little 
encouragement  to  marriage,  and  allowed  few  to  reach  gray  hairs. 
4.  yet.    For  they  were  hardly  there  at  present. 

dwell.    More  picturesquely  as  RVm.,  sit :  cf.  i  Mace.  xiv.  9. 

streets.     Broad  places :  see  on  Nah.  ii.  4  ;  so  v.  5  (twice). 
6.  With  Yahweh  nothing  is  impossible  :   though  what  is  here 
promised  should  seem  marvellous  even  to  those  who  witness  it, 
Yahweh  will  nevertheless  bring  it  to  pass. 

be  marvellous.  Or,  extraordinary.  The  word  (meaning 
properly  to  be  exceptional)  is  rendered  in  the  similar  passages, 
Gen.  xviii.  14,  Jer.  xxxii.  17,  27  be  diffictdt,  or  hard. 

the  remnant  of  this  people.  As  Hag.  i.  12,  14,  of  the 
colony  of  restored  exiles. 

in  those  days.  In  the  days  when  the  promises  now  given 
will  have  been  fulfilled. 

7-8.  Yahweh  will  bring  back  those  of  His  people  who  are  still 
scattered  in  different  parts  of  the  world,  and  they  will  dwell  in 
Jerusalem,  at  once  loyal  to  Him,  and  under  His  protection. 

Z  will  save.     Cf.  Jer.  xxx.  10,  11. 

from  the  east  country,  &c.  Cf.  Is.  xliii.  5  (where,  however, 
the   north  and   the   south  follow   in   v,   6).      The  opposite  and 


222  ZECHARIAH  8.  9, 10 

bring  them,  and  they  shall  dwell  in  the  midst  of  Jeru- 
salem ;  and  they  shall  be  my  people,  and  I  will  be  their 

9  God,  in  truth  and  in  righteousness.  Thus  saith  the 
Lord  of  hosts :  Let  your  hands  be  strong,  ye  that  hear 
in  these  days  these  words  from  the  mouth  of  the  pro- 
phets, which  were  in  the  day  that  the  foundation  of  the 
house  of  the  Lord  of  hosts  was  laid,  even  the  temple, 

10  that  it  might  be  built.  For  before  those  days  there 
was  no  hire  for  man,  nor  any  hire  for  beast;  neither 
was  there  any  peace  to  him  that  went  out  or  came  in 


distant  quarters  of  the   earth    represent,    of   course,    the    earth 
generally  :  cf.  Ps.  1.  i,  cxiii.  3  ;  Is.  lix.  19 ;  Mai.  i.  11  ;  Mt.  viii.  ii. 

and  they  nhall  be  to  me  a  people,  and  I  will  be  to  them 
a  God.  The  phrase,  implying  close  and  mutual  relationship,  as 
often  in  Jer.  (vii.  23,  xxiv.  7,  xxxi.  33)  and  Ez.  (xi.  20,  xxxvi.  28, 
xxxvii.  23,  27)  ;  cf.  Hos.  ii.  23. 

in  truth  and  in  righteousness.  Cf.  Hos.  ii.  19.  20  ;  Is. 
xlviii.  I  end, 

9-13.  Let  the  people  take  courage  !  the  anxious  times  are 
past ;  fruitful  seasons  and  prosperity  are  in  store  for  them.  The 
passage  is  spoken  with  evident  reference  to  Hag.  i.  6-1 1,  ii,  15-19. 

9.  Iiet  your  hands  be  strong:  i.  e.  Be  of  good  courage  ;  Jud. 
vii.  II  ;  Is.  XXXV.  3  al. 

ye  that  hear,  &c.  :  suggesting  a  ground  why  they  should 
feel  encouraged;  they  have  heard  the  reassuring  words  of  the 
'  prophets,'  Haggai  and  Zechariah. 

which  were  in :  LXX,  Pesh.,  Smith,  '  which  have  been 
from '  (cvo  for  cv^}. 

the  day  that,  &c.  :  i.  e.  the  time,  two  years  before,  when 
the  building  of  the  Temple  was  resumed  (Hag.  i.  14  f.,  ii.  18  ;  cf. 
Ezr.  V.  I  f.). 

10-12.  The  improvement  which  has  already  begun  is  a 
ground  of  hope  and  encouragement  for  the  future. 

10.  The  three  evils  which  prevailed  before  the  building  of  the 
Temple  was  resumed  :  scarcity  of  food,  the  interference  of  un- 
friendly neighbours  (cf.  Ezr.  iv.  i),  and  internal  dissensions. 

hire.  Or,  wages.  The  crops  were  so  scanty  that  there  was 
little  or  no  return  for  the  labour  of  either  man  or  beast  in  the 
fields  :  see  Hag.  i.  6  end,  10,  11,  ii.  16,  17,  19. 

that  went  out  or  came  in :  viz.  at  the  beginning  or  end  of 
any  undertaking  (Dt.  xxviii.  6,  xxxi.  2).     Cf.  2  Chr.  xv.  5. 


ZECHARIAH  8.  11-13  223 

because  of  the  adversary :  for  I  set  all  men  every  one 
against   his   neighbour.     But  now  I  will   not  be  unto  n 
the  remnant  of  this  people  as  in  the  former  days,  saith 
the  Lord  of  hosts.    For  there  shall  be  the  seed  of  peace  ;  1 2 
the  vine  shall  give  her  fruit,  and  the  ground  shall  give 
her  increase,  and  the  heavens  shall  give  their  dew ;  and 
I  will  cause  the  remnant  of  this  people  to  inherit  all 
these  things.     And  it  shall  come  to  pass  that,  as  ye  13 
were  a  curse  among  the  nations,  O  house  of  Judah  and 

and  (not  'for')  I  set,  &c.     A  third  evil  :  internal  dissensions. 

11.  But  now  Yahweh  will  deal  with  His  people  differently  ; 
and  the  land  will  again  be  blessed  with  fertility. 

Z  will  not  be,  &c.  Rather,  not  as  in  the  former  days  am  I 
unto,  &c.  :  there  is  no  verb  expressed  in  the  Hebrew. 

the  remnant  of  this  people :  as  v.  6,  the  returned  exiles. 

the  former  days:  i.  e.  the  days  before  the  building  of  the 
Temple  was  resumed. 

12.  Per  (there  shall  be)  the  seed  of  peace,  &c.  I.  e.  for  the 
produce  or  harvest  (Job  xxxix.  12)  of  peace  will  now  be  assured, 
the  following  clauses  describing  in  what  this  produce  or  harvest 
is  to  consist.  But  the  text  is  suspicious  :  'dew'  cannot  well  be 
included  under  '  seed '  ;  and  such  an  abrupt  sentence  is  not  in 
accordance  with  usual  Hebrew  style.  It  is  best,  probably,  to 
read  with  We.,  Smith,  Now.  (ed.  2},  Marti,  '  For  I  will  sow 
peace '  (cVto:  nyiix  for  ciVi'n  yii  :  the  LXX,  though  paraphrasing, 
have  a  verb,  *  I  will  show  *).  The  figure  may  have  been  suggested 
by  Hos.  ii.  23  (though  the  object  there  is  not  '  peace  '). 

and  the  earth  shall  yield  her  increase.  A  standing  phrase, 
found  six  times  besides  :  Lev.  xxvi.  4,  20 ;  Dt.  xi.  17  ;  Ez.  xxxiv. 
27  ;  Ps.  Ixvii.  6,  Ixxxv.  12. 

the  vine  shall  yield  her  fruit,  &c.  In  contrast  to  the  late 
bad  seasons,  Hag.  i.  10,  11,  ii.  16,  17. 

13.  As,  onaccountofthe  unprecedented  misfortunes  which  befell 
them,  they  were  once  regarded  by  the  heathen  as  cursed  of  God 
(Jer.  xxiv.  9,  xlii.  18),  so  that  men  used  their  names,  as  types  of 
wretchedness,  in  imprecations  (cf  Jer,  xxix.  22),  so  now  they 
will  be  so  blessed  by  God  that  their  names  will  be  used,  as  types 
of  happiness,  in  benedictions  (cf.  Gen.  xlviii.  20  RVm.). 

O  honsie  of  Judah,  and  house  of  Israel.  Though  the 
prophet  is  addressing  actually  {v.  12)  only  the  restored  'remnant,' 
he  here  enlarges  his  outlook,  so  as  to  embrace  in  it  not  only  the 
tribe  of  Judah  generally  (including  those  still  in  exile),  but  the 


224  ZECHARIAH  8.  14-18 

house  of  Israel,  so  will  I  save  you,  and  ye  shall   be 

14  a  blessing  :  fear  not,  but  let  your  hands  be  strong.  For 
thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts  :  As  I  thought  to  do  evil 
unto  you,  when  your  fathers  provoked  me  to  wrath,  saith 

15  the  Lord  of  hosts,  and  I  repented  not ;  so  again  have  I 
thought  in  these  days  to  do  good  unto  Jerusalem  and  to 

16  the  house  of  Judah  :  fear  ye  not.  These  are  the  things 
that  ye  shall  do ;  Speak  ye  every  man  the  truth  with  his 
neighbour ;  »  execute  the  judgement  of  truth  and  peace 

17  in  your  gates  :  and  let  none  of  you  imagine  evil  in  your 
hearts  against  his  neighbour ;  and  love  no  false  oath : 
for  all  these  are  things  that  I  hate,  saith  the  Lord. 

sS      And  the  word  of  the  Lord  of  hosts  came  unto  me, 

*  W^.  judge  truth  and  the  judgement  of  peace. 

tribes  of  the  northern  kingdom  as  well.  The  prospect  is  an 
ideal  one,  such  as  is  often  drawn  by  the  prophets  :  Jer.  iii.  12-15, 
18,  xxxi.  4-9,  27  ;  Ez.  xxxvii.  15  ff.  ;  Is.  xi.  12-14  ;  Zech.  x.  6,  7. 
a  blessing'.  Both  blessed  yourselves  (Gen.  xii.  2  :  cf.  Ps.  xxi. 
6  RVm.),  and  also  an  example,  or  type,  of  blessedness,  in  the 
eyes  of  others. 

let  your  hands  be  strong.  The  paragraph  ends  with  the 
same  word  of  encouragement  as  that  with  which  it  began  {y.  9>, 

14-17.  The  people  have  nothing  to  fear,  if  only  iyv.   16-17) 
they  observe  the  moral  conditions  which  Yahweh  imposes. 

14,  15.  to  do  evil  ...  to  do  g'ood.     Contrast  Dt.  xxviii.  63 ; 
Jer.  xxxi.  28. 

16,  17.  Yahweh's  moral  demands  are  substantially  the  same  as 
those  laid  upon  the  forefathers,  vii.  gf. 

16.  Speak  .  .  .  truth.     Cf.  Ps.  xv.  a. 

judge  truth,  and  the  judg-ement  of  peace  (RVm.)  :  i.  e. 
judgement  leading  to  peace,  as  opposed  to  unrighteous  judgement, 
such  as  leads  only  to  dissatisfaction  and  discord. 

in  your  gfates.  Or,  gateways,  with  seats  along  the  sides, 
where  persons  often  met  for  conversation  or  business,  and  where 
justice  was  also  often  administered  :  see  e.  g.  Dt.  xxv.  7  ;  Ruth 
iv.  I,  n  ;  Am.  v.  15  ;  Is.  xxix.  21  ;  Job  v.  4  ;  Ps.  cxxvii.  5. 

17.  and  let  none  of  you,  &c.     Nearly  identical  with  vii.  10^'. 
no  false  oath.     Cf.  v.  4. 

18-19.   Now  at  last  comes  the  direct  answer  to  the  original 
question  (vii.  3%  out  of  which  the  entire  prophecy  arose :    Do 


ZECHARIAH  8.  19-22  225 

saying,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts :  The  fast  of  the  19 
fourth  vionth^  and  the  fast  of  the  fifth,  and  the  fast  of 
the  seventh,  and  the  fast  of  the  tenth,  shall  be  to  the 
house  of  Judah  joy  and  gladness,  and  cheerful  feasts; 
therefore  love  truth  and  peace.     Thus  saith  the  Lord  20 
of  hosts  :  //  shall  yet  come  to  pass,  that  there  shall  come 
peoples,  and  the  inhabitants  of  ^ many  cities:  and  the  21 
inhabitants  of  one  city  shall  go  to  another,  saying,  Let 
us  go  speedily  to  intreat  the  favour  of  the  Lord,  and  to 
seek  the  Lord  of  hosts:   I  will  go  also.     Yea,  many  22 
peoples  and  strong  nations  shall  come  to  seek  the  Lord 
of  hosts  in  Jerusalem,  and  to  intreat  the  favour  of  the 
Lord.     Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts  :  In  those  days  23 
//  shall  come  to  pass,  that  ten  men  shall  take  hold,  out  of 

*  Or,  great 

what  is  just  and  right,  and  the  felicity  which  you  will  then  enjoy 
will  cause  the  sad  memories  of  the  past  to  be  forgotten.  The 
answer  embraces  two  other  fast-days,  besides  those  mentioned 
in  vii.  5. 

12,  On  the  ninth  day  of  ^e  fourth  month,  a  breach  was  made  in 
the  walls  of  Jerusalem,  Zedekiah  and  his  men  of  war  fled,  and  the 
Chaldaeans  entered  the  city  (2  K.  xxv.  3-5^  Jer.  lii.  6-8^  ;  on  the 
tenth  day  oiihe  fifth  month,  the  city,  palace,  and  temple  were  burnt 
(Jen  lii.  12,  13)  ;  in  the  seventh  month,  the  governor  Gedaliah 
was  murdered  (above,  on  vii.  5)  ;  on  the  tenth  day  of  the  teuth 
month  (a  year  and  a  half  before  the  day  on  which  the  breach  in 
the  walls  was  made)  the  siege  of  Jerusalem  began  (2  K.  xxv.  i  = 
Jer.  lii.  4). 

cheerful  feasts.     Better,  cheerful  seasons  (Zeph.  iii.  18). 

so  love  truth  and  peace  (cf.  v.  i6''\     In  order,  viz.,  that  this 
happy  change  may  come  to  you. 

20-22.  So  great  will  be  Judah's  felicity  that  the  sight  of  it  will 
attract  many  and  mighty  nations  to  Jerusalem,  to  seek  Yahweh's 
favour  there. 

21.  let  us  §"0.  They  exhort  one  another  to  make  the  pilgrim- 
age :  cf.  Is.  ii.  3  =  Mic.  iv.  2.  There  is  no  '  speedily  '  in  the  Hebrew  : 
the  inf.  abs.  suggests  emphasis,  but  not  (at  least  directly)  speed. 

to  intreat  the  favour.     Cf.  on  vii.  2. 

22.  many  peoples  and  strong'  nations.     Cf.  Mic.  iv.  3. 

23.  Ten  men  will  press  round  a  single  Jew  :  so  eager  will  the 

Q 


226  ZECHARIAH  8.  23 

all  the  languages  of  the  nations,  shall  even  take  hold 
of  the  skirt  of  him  that  is  a  Jew,  saying,  We  will  go  with 
you,  for  we  have  heard  that  God  is  with  you. 

nations  be,  not  merely  to  worship  the  God  of  Israel,  but  to  join 
themselves  to  Israel  (cf.  ii.  11  ;  Is.  xiv.  i^,  Ivii.  6  f.),  because,  viz., 
God  is  '  with '  Israel,  and  blesses  it  with  prosperity  (cf.  Gen.  xxi. 
22,  xxvi.  28  f.,  xxxix,  2,  23%     Cf.  Is.  xlv.  14. 

lanffuag-es.  In  the  late  sense  of '  peoples  speaking  different 
languages,'  as  Is.  Ixvi.  18;  Dan.  iii.  4,  7,  28,  &c. :  so  Rev.  v.  9, 
vii.  9,  X.  II  al. 

Additional  Note  on  Zech.  vi.  8. 

<  Cried  upon '  here,  in  the  sense  of  *  called  to,'  is  an  isolated  and 
somewhat  curious  archaism,  inherited  through  the  Geneva 
Version  (1560),  and  the  Great  Bible  '1539},  from  Coverdale  (1534). 
It  was  presumably  current  in  Old  Enghsh  ;  but  in  the  instances 
given  by  Murray  ri3oo  Cursor  Mundi  6139 ;  1400  Destruction  of 
Troy  6^0^  ;  1532  More,  Works,  ed.  1557,  p.  396*  'he  cryed  upon 
them  to  do  penaunce  ' ;  and  others)  it  has  the  force  of  call  on  or 
appeal  to.  It  is  still,  Dr.  Hastings  tells  me,  used  colloquially  in 
the  sense  of  '  call  to '  in  Scotland  :  '  A  mother  will  say,  "  Your 
father's  in  the  garden,  cry  upon  him  to  come  in."  '  And  Jos.  Wright, 
in  his  Dialect  Dictionary,  quotes  two  examples  of  it  in  the  same 
sense  from  Scott :  Border  Minstrelsy  (1802),  i.  144,  ed.  1806,  or 
ii.  8,  ed.  1848  in  '  Jamie  Telfer'),  '  But  fj'e  gar  cry  on  Willie  my 
son,'  and  Redgauntlet.  Letter  xii,  towards  the  end,  '  If  ony  body 
stops  ye,  cry  on  me.' 


ZECHARIAH   IX-XIV 


INTRODUCTION 

Zechariah  ix-xiv  falls  into  two  main  parts  (though  it 
is  doubtful  whether  each  part  forms  a  single  continuous 
prophecy),  viz.  (i)  ix-xi,  xiii.  7-9;  (2)  xii.  i— xiii.  6,  xiv. 

Contents  of  the  two  parts, 

(i)  {a)  ix.  Establishment  of  ihc  Messianic  kingdotn.  Yah- 
weh's  judgement  falls  upon  Syria,  Phoenicia,  and  the 
Philistines  {vv.  1-8)  :  their  depopulated  territory  is  incorpor- 
ated in  the  Messianic  king^dom  :  the  Messianic  king  enters  his 
capital  in  triumph  {vv.  9-10) ;  the  Israelites  still  in  exile, 
having  vanquished  the  Greeks,  return  to  their  own  land,  to 
enjoy  there  the  blessings  of  peace  {vv.  11-17). 

{b)  X.  1-2.  Ask  help  of  Yahiveh.  not  of  the  teraphim  or 
diviners!  An  exhortation  to  pray  for  rain  to  Yahweh,  and  not 
to  expect  it  from  teraphim  and  diviners  :  trust  in  them  leads 
only  to  misfortune. 

(c)  X.  3-12.  The  fall  of  the  godless  foreign  tyrants.  Yahweh 
will  visit  His  flock  (people),  free  them  from  their  foreign 
rulers,  and  appoint  them  native  rulers  of  their  own  {yv.  3,  4;. 
Endued  with  new  strength,  they  will  thereupon  vanquish 
their  foes  ;  the  exiled  Ephraimites  will  return  ;  Egypt  and 
Assyria  will  be  humbled  ;  and  the  restored  nation  will  glory 
in  its  God  {vv.  5-12). 

{d)  xi.  1-3.  A  fire  devours  the  cedars  of  Lebanon ;  and 
the  oaks  of  Bashan  will  soon  share  the  same  fate  :  shepherds 
bewail  their  desolated  pastures,  and  lions  roar  because  their 
lairs  along  the  Jordan  are  destroyed.  Perhaps  a  figurative 
description  of  the  downfall  of  heathen  rulers. 

{e)  xi.  4-17  ;  xiii.  7-9.  The  people's  rejection  of  the  good 
shepherd,  the  substitution  of  a  worthless  shepherd^  and  its  conse- 
quences for  both.  Israel  has  been  the  prey  of  selfish  shepherds 
''i.e.  rulers),  who  have  made  traffic  with  it  ruthlessly.  The 
prophet  is  therefore  commissioned  to  enact  the  part  of  a  good 
shepherd,  and  rule  the  people  on  Yahweh's  behalf :  but  they 

Q    2 


228  ZECHARIAH    IX— XIV 

resent  his  authority,  so  he  leaves  them  to  their  fate  {vv.  4-14^ 
After  this,  in  order  to  exhibit  the  consequences  which  their 
rejection  of  Yahweh  will  entail,  he  assumes  the  character  of 
a  worthless  shepherd,  who  will  plunder  the  people  for  his  own 
aggrandizement,  but  who  will  eventually  meet  with  a  just 
retribution  {vv.  15-17)  :  his  flock  will  be  dispersed  ;  and  only 
a  remnant,  purified  by  further  trial,  will  be  preserved  to  form 
the  faithftil  people  of  God  (xiii.  7-9).  On  the  probable 
meaning  of  the  allegory  see  the  notes,  esp.  p.  253  f. 

(2)  xii.  I — xiii.  6,  xiv.  The  delivt^rance  and  glorious  future 
of  Jerusalem. — {a)  xii.  i — xiii.  6.  The  deliverance  of  Jerusalem 
from  the  attack  of  the  heathen,  its  penitence,  and  its  purifi- 
cation from  all  sin  and  uncleanness.  The  prophet  sees  an 
assembly  of  nations  advancing  against  Jerusalem  :  but  Yahweh 
smites  them  with  a  sudden  panic,  the  country  folk  of  Judah 
are  first  victorious,  and  then  they  assist  in  saving  the  capital 
{vv.  1-9).  After  this  triumph,  the  whole  nation,  every  family 
by  itself,  from  the  noblest  downwards,  holds  a  great  lamen- 
tation over  a  martyr  'whom  they  have  pierced'  {vv.  10-14). 
Henceforth  a  fountain  for  purification  from  sin  is  permanently 
opened  in  Jerusalem  (xiii.  i)  ;  and  all  idolatry  and  degraded 
prophecy  are  exterminated  from  the  land  (xiii.  2-6). 

{b)  xiv.  The  deliverance  of  Jerusalem  from  the  heathen, 
and  its  elevation  into  a  centre  of  monotheism  for  the  world. 
Another  assault  upon  Jerusalem  is  here  described.  The 
nations  this  time  capture  the  city  ;  and  half  of  its  population  is 
taken  into  captivity  {v.  if.).  Yahweh  next  appears,  in  order 
to  fight  against  the  assailants,  and  rescue  the  remainder  :  He 
stands  upon  the  Mount  of  Olives,  which  is  rent  in  sunder 
beneath  Him,  and  through  the  chasm  the  fugitives  escape  {vv. 
3-5).  Thereupon  the  Messianic  age  commences  :  the  light  is 
perpetual,  and  the  air  serene  ;  the  territory  of  Judah  becomes 
a  fertile  plain,  Jerusalem  alone  retaining  its  former  elevation, 
conspicuous  from  afar,  the  goal  of  the  nations'  pilgrimages, 
and  holy  entirely  to  Yahweh  {vv.  6-21). 

That  Zechariah,  the  author  of  chs.  i-viii,  should  be  also 
the  author  of  either  chs.  ix-xi,  xiii.  7-9,  or  xii,  xiii.  1-6, 
xiv,  cannot  be  said  to  be  probable,  even  upon  internal 
grounds.  Zechariah  uses  a  different  phraseology,  evinces 
different  interests,  and  moves  in  a  different  circle  of  ideas 
from  those  which  prevail  in  chs.  xii-xiv. 

Thus  Zechariah  is  peculiarly  fond  of  the  confirmatory  formula, 
*(Thus)  saith  Yahweh'  (twenty-three  times),  and  '  came  the 


INTRODUCTION  229 

word  of  Yahvveh  unto  .  .  .'  (eight  times) ;  in  xi-xiv  we  have 
the  former  only  in  xi.  4,  the  latter  not  at  all  ;  the  parenthetic 
'  saith  Yahweh  '  is  also  much  more  frequent  in  i-viii  than  in 
ix-xiv  :  on  the  other  hand,  '  in  that  day'  (of  the  future  ,  which 
occurs  seventeen  times  in  xii-xiv,  occurs  thrice  only  in  i-viii 
(ii,  ri,  iii.  10,  [vi.  10 j),  and  only  once  in  ix-xi  (ix.  16). 

In  i-viii  the  circumstances  of  the  author's  lifetime,  and 
the  objects  of  his  interest— the  Temple,  the  affairs  of  the 
restored  community,  Judah's  prospects  for  the  future — 
bulk  largely  :  in  ix-xiv  the  circumstances  and  interests  of 
the  author  are  very  different :  there  is  nothing  about  the 
restoration  of  the  Temple,  or  about  Joshua  and  Zerubbabel ; 
but  we  read  of  the  evil  rulers,  foreign  and  native  alike, 
who  maltreat  their  subjects,  and  enrich  themselves  at 
their  expense.  Zechariah's  pictures  of  the  Messiah  and 
the  Messianic  age  are  coloured  quite  differently  from  those 
of  either  ix-xi  or  xii-xiv  (contrast  iii.  8,  vi.  12  f.  with 
ix.  9  f. ;  and  viii  with  xiv)  ;  and  the  prospects  of  the 
nation  are  also  different :  in  Zechariah  the  outlook  is  one 
of  security  and  peace  (i.  17,  21,  ii.  9-1 1,  iii.  10,  viii.  ^-8, 
12),  in  xii.  2  ff.,  xiv.  2  ff.,  war  and  siege  are  imminent,  and 
only  when  these  have  been  passed  through,  and  Jerusalem 
has  been  captured  and  plundered  (xiv.  2),  will  Judah's 
salvation  be  secured  (xiv.  6  ff.}.  And  if  (see  below)  ix-xiv 
are  not  earlier  than  the  Greek  age,  Zechariah's  authorship 
is  upon  chronological  grounds  impossible. 

When,  however,  we  endeavour,  by  means  of  internal 
evidence,  to  fix  the  date  of  these  prophecies,  we  are 
met  by  a  difficulty.  Especially  ix-xi,  xiii.  7-9  contains 
passages,  some  of  which  seem  to  point  to  a  /r^-exilic 
date,  while  others  point  to  a  ^^j/-exilic  date.  Thus, 
on  the  one  hand,  the  kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes  is 
spoken  of  in  terms  implying  apparently  that  it  j////  exists 
(ix.  10,  XL  14),  Assyria  and  Egypt  are  mentioned  side  by 
side  (x.  10,  11),  just  as  in  Hosea  (vii.  11  a/.)  \  the  tera- 
phim  and  diviners  (x.  i  f.)  have  been  thought  to  point  to 
a  date  before  rather  than  after  the  Exile  (but  see  Mai.  iii. 


230  ZECHARIAII    IX-XIV 

5) ;  the  nations  threatened  in  ix.  1-7  are  those  prominent 
in  the  age  of  Amos  (cf.  Am.  i.  3,  6,  g).  On  the  strength 
of  these  facts,  many  of  the  older  critics,  Ewald,  Hitzig, 
and  others,  assigned  ch.  ix  to  the  end  of  the  reign  of 
Jeroboam  II,  ch.  x  to  a  somewhat  later  date,  v.  10  al- 
luding to  the  deportation  of  the  inhabitants  of  N.  and 
N.E.  Israel  by  Tiglath-pileser  in  734  (2  K.  xv.  29),  and 
xi.  4-17  being  interpreted  as  a  symbolical  description  of 
Yahweh's  rejection  of  the  kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes  in  the 
troubles  which  followed  the  death  of  Jeroboam  II.  Upon 
this  view  the  author  would  be  an  older  contemporary  of 
Isaiah. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  prophecy  also  contains  passages 
which  appear  to  imply  a  ^<7J'/-exilic  date :  ix.  11  f.  and 
X.  6-9  seem  to  presuppose  the  captivity  of  Ephraim  (b.  c. 
722) ;  in  ix.  8  it  is  said  that  no  oppressor  shall  any  more 
pass  through  Jerusalem;  and  in  ix.  13  the  Greeks  are 
mentioned,  not  as  a  distant,  unimportant  people,  such  as 
they  would  be  in  the  eighth  century  B.C.,  but  as  a  world- 
power,  and  as  Israel's  most  formidable  antagonist,  the 
victory  over  whom  inaugurates  the  Messianic  age.  This 
position,  however,  was  only  attained  by  the  Greeks  after 
the  overthrow  of  the  Persian  empire  at  Issus,  in  Cilicia, 
by  Alexander  the  Great,  B.  c.  333. 

Upon  the  whole,  the  arguments  in  favour  of  a  post- 
exilic  date  preponderate.  Not  only  is  the  manner  in  which 
the  Greeks  are  mentioned  in  ix.  13  a  grave  objection  to 
a  pre-exilic  date,  but  the  portrait  of  the  Messianic  king 
seems  to  be  original  in  Isaiah,  so  that  it  is  scarcely  pos- 
sible to  regard  ix.  9  f  as  earlier  than  Isaiah;  and  inasmuch 
as  there  are  clear  indications  in  some  parts  (as  ix.  11,  12, 
xi.  4-17)  that  the  writer  for  some  reason  veils  his  meaning, 
and  speaks  allegorically,  a  presumption  arises  that  he  may 
do  the  same  elsewhere.  And  so  the  terms  'Ephraim' 
and  'the  house  of  Joseph'  maybe  explained  as  symbolical 
designations  of  the  members  of  the  ten  tribes  still  in  exile 
(the   Diaspora),   whose   return  was  anticipated   by   the 


INTRODUCTION  231 

prophets  long  after  722  (Jer.  iii.  12,  xxxi.  4  fif, ;  Ez.  xxxvii. 
16  ff.)  ;  while  '  Assyria,'  the  name  of  the  country  to  which, 
and  the  people  by  whom,  Ephraim  was  carried  into  exile, 
may  have  been  used  .0  denote  the  lands  belonging 
geographically  to  the  ancient  Assyria,  or  their  present 
owners,  whether  the  Persians  (cf.  Ezr.  vi.  22),  or  Alexander 
(if  X.  10,  II  was  written  during  his  victorious  campaigns, 
^'  c.  333-323),  or  his  successors  on  the  throne  of  Syria, 
the  Seleucidae. 

If,  however,  we  ask  more  particularly  to  what  date  in 
the  Greek  period  the  prophecy  is  to  be  assigned,  it  is 
impossible  to  give  any  confident  answer :  for  our  know- 
ledge of  Jewish  history  from  333  to  c,  175  B.  c.  is  too 
meagre  to  allow  us  to  determine  what  the  events  alluded 
to  in  the  prophecy  are.  There  were,  however,  more 
occasions  than  one,  in  the  half-century  following  the 
battle  of  Issus  in  333,  which,  so  far  as  we  can  see,  might 
have  given  rise  to  such  a  prophecy. 

Alexander  himself,  having,  in  332,  taken  Tyre  after  a  seven 
months'  siege,  marched  along  the  coast  of  Palestine  on  his  way 
to  Egypt,  spending  two  months  on  the  way  in  the  reduction 
of  Gaza.  There  followed  the  ten  years  of  Alexander's 
wonderful  career  of  conquest  in  the  East.  After  his  death  at 
Babylon  in  323,  his  empire,  from  Macedon  to  the  Indus, 
became  the  prey  of  his  generals'  ambitions  ;  and  Coele-Syria 
and  Palestine,  the  debatable  border-land  between  Syria  and 
Egypt,  were  repeatedly  invaded  by  rival  armies  and  repeatedly 
changed  hands.  Syria  was  originally  allotted  to  Laomedon  ; 
but  Ptolemy  Lagi  (who  had  secured  Egypt)  in  320  sent  an 
expedition  through  Palestine  (in  the  course  of  which  he  is  said 
to  have  surprised  Jerusalem  on  a  Sabbath),  and  annexed 
Syria  by  force  of  arms.  In  318  Eumenes,  Alexander's  former 
secretary,  who  had  received  the  satrapy  of  Cappadocia, 
easily  wrested  one  city  after  another  in  Palestine  from 
Ptolemy's  garrisons,  but  was  obliged  to  abandon  them  in 
consequence  of  his  fleet  deserting  to  Antigonus.  In  315 
Antigonus  (the  general  who  had  obtained  Phrygia)  laid  siege 
to  Tyre,  took  Joppa  and  Gaza,  and  in  314,  after  a  fifteen  months' 
siege,  reduced  Tyre,  and  so  gained  possession  of  Palestine. 
In  312,  however,  Ptolemy  defeated  Antigonus' son.  Demetrius, 
at  a  great  battle  fought  near  Gaza,  the  result  of  which  was 


232  ZECHARIAH  .IX~^XIV 

that  he  recovered  Palestine  as  far  as  Tyre  But  he  did  not 
retain  it  for  long:  in  311,  heaifing  that  Antigonus  was 
advancing  against  him  with  a  largi2  army  from  Phrygia,  he 
evacuated  it,  destroying  on  his  retneat  Acco,  Joppa,  Samaria, 
and  Gaza.  From  311  to  302  Palestine  remained  in  the  hands 
of  Antigonus.  In  302,  however,  it  was  again  recovered  by 
Ptolemy.  After  the  battle  of  Ipsus,  in  Phrygia,  in  301,  in 
which  Antigonus  was  defeated  and  slai.i  by  Seleucus,  Ptolemy, 
under  protest  from  Seleucus,  still  retained  Palestine.  In  297 
or  296  Demetrius  appears  to  have  taken  Samaria  '. 

There  were  also,  during  all  these  years,  numerous  wars 
between  the  former  generals  of  Ale?cander  in  other 
parts  of  Asia.  Amid  times  such  as  these,  a  prophet  might 
well  have  been  moved  to  attach  his  thoughts  about  the 
future  to  imagery  such  as  that  of  the  invasion  of  Palestine 
from  the  north  in  ix.  1-8,  or  the  assault  of  nations  upon 
Jerusalem  in  xii.  1-9,  or  its  capture  by  them  in  xiv.  1-2, 
and  so  Stade,  in  his  elaborate  study  onZech.  ix-xiv  in  the 
Zeitschr.  fiir  die  alttest.  Wissenschaft.  for  1881,  1882, 
dates  the  prophecy  (1882,  pp.  293  f.,  305)  between  306  and 
278.  G.  A.  Smith  (p.  461)  agrees  that  this  date  is  probable. 
Kuiper  {Zach.  ix-xiv,  Utrecht,  1894,  pp.  134  f.,  160  f.) 
thinks  chs.  ix-x  may  have  been  written  in  332  during 
Alexander's  siege  of  Tyre,  considering  ix.  5-8  to  be  a 
prediction  of  his  ensuing  march  towards  Egypt,  and 
understanding  the  two  chapters  generally  as  giving  ex- 
pression to  the  hopes  of  deliverance  and  restoration 
aroused  by  his  successes  ;  xi,  xiii.  7-9  he  thinks  was 
written  somewhat  later,  after  these  hopes  had  been  dis- 
appointed, and  the  people  had  shown  themselves  un- 
responsive to  Yahweh's  demands  ;  xii.  i — xiii.  6  and  xiv 
describe  the  hopes  cherished  still  later  by  the  same 
prophet.  This  view  is  plausible :  whether  it  is  right  is 
more  than  we  can  tell.  Nowack  declines  to  say  more 
than  that   the  prophecy  belongs   to   the   Greek  period. 


^  Stade,  in  the  study  mentioned  above,  1882,  pp.  301-4  ; 
Niese,  Gesch.  der  Griech.  u.  Maked.  Staaten,  i.  '  1893),  pp.  230, 
275  f-,  283  f.,  295-300,  349>  352,  355  n-  6;  ii.  ^1899),  pp.  124  f. 


INTRODUCTION  233 

The  date,  in  fact,  cannot  be  fixed  definitely  till  we  know 
who  the  '  three  shepherds '  cut  off  '  in  one  month '  are 
(xi.  8).  Marti  (see  p.  254)  places  the  prophecy  as  late  as 
B.C.  160 ;  but  if  this  had  been  the  date  we  should  have 
expected  the  Hebrew  style  to  be  of  a  later  type  than  it  is. 
Chs.  xii.  I — xiii.  6,  xiv  (which  differ  from  ix.  i  ff.  in 
making  no  mention  of  the  northern  kingdom)  were  as- 
signed by  Ewald  and  other  older  critics  to  a  prophet  living 
shortly  before  the  close  of  the  kingdom  of  Judah,  under 
either  Jehoiakim,  Jehoiachin,  or  Zedekiah,  the  descriptions 
in  xii.  2ff.  and  xiv.  i  ff.  being  supposed  to  refer  to  the 
approaching  capture  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Chaldaeans 
in  586,  and  to  the  escape  (xiv.  2^)  of  a  fraction  of  the 
inhabitants.  But  a  closer  study  of  the  contents  of  the 
prophecy  reveals  indications,  too  clear  to  be  mistaken,  of 
its  post-exilic  origin.  The  terms  in  which  the  foe  is 
spoken  of  in  xii.  2  ff.,  xiv.  i  ff.  are  very  different  from 
those  used  by  Jeremiah  or  Ezekiel  of  the  Chaldaeans  : 
there  is  an  ideal  or  imaginative  element  in  the  descriptions, 
showing  that  the  prophet  has  not  actual  enemies  in  view, 
but  that  he  is  following  Ezekiel  (chs.  xxxviii-xxxix)  in 
picturing  an  imaginary  attack  of  nations  upon  Jerusalem 
in  the  future.  Such  a  feature  has  no  organic  connexion 
with  the  prophet's  own  times,  but  is  eschatological. 
The  prophets  of  the  Chaldaean  age  dwell  constantly  upon 
the  iniquities  of  the  people  :  the  burden  of  these  chapters 
is  not  the  need  of  repentance,  or  the  judgement  upon  sin, 
but  deliverance  and  future  blessedness.  The  independent 
position  assigned  to  the  '  house  of  Levi,'  as  a  whole,  be- 
side the  'house  of  David  '  (xii.  13  ;  cl  vv.  8,  10,  12,  xiii. 
l)  is  unlike  the  representations  of  the  earlier  period :  on 
the  other  hand,  it  would  harmonize  with  post-exilic 
relations,  when  the  family  of  David  was  reduced  in 
prestige,  and  the  priestly  tribe  possessed  great  influence 
in  Jerusalem,  the  high-priest  being  head  of  the  state. 
Hence  there  is  no  sufficient  reason  for  attributing  xii — xiii. 
6,  xiv  to  a  substantially  different  age  from  ix-xi,  xiii.  7-9. 


234  ZECHARIAH   IX^XIV 

Whether  the  six  chapters  are  all  by  one  hand  is  a 
difficult  question,  which  can  hardly  be  answered  with 
certainty.  The  chapters,  no  doubt,  all  move  in  the  same 
general  circle  of  ideas :  but  there  are  at  the  same  time 
considerable  differences  between  them. 

Thus  in  xi.  4-17,  xiii.  7-9  the  figure  of  the  shepherds  is  the 
same  as  in  x.  3,  but  it  is  worked  out  in  a  different  and  highly 
original  manner  ;  the  outlook  into  the  future  in  xi.  17,  xiii. 
7-9  is  very  different  from  that  of  ix.  9-17,  x.  4-12,  as  it  is  also 
from  that  of  xii.  i — xiii.  6  :  Ephraim,  who  is  so  prominent  in 
ix-x,  appears  nowhere  in  xi-xiv,  not  even  in  the  pictures  of 
the  future:  the  'shepherds,'  also,  whether  ofx.  3  or  of  xi. 
4-17,  xiii.  7,  are  not  to  be  found  in  xii.  r — xiii.  6,  xiv  :  xiv.  1-5 
is  parallel  in  general  thought  to  xii.  1-9,  but  again  there  are 
great  differences  ;  for  whereas  in  xii.  i  ff.  the  assailants  are 
dispersed  before  Jerusalem,  in  xiv.  i  f  they  enter  and  spoil 
the  city,  and  half  its  inhabitants  go  into  exile  :  xiv.  4  f ,  12-15, 
also,  are  very  different  from  anything  in  xii.  3-9  ;  and  xiii. 
8  f.,  again,  differs  from  each  of  these. 

Some  of  these  differences  (e.  g.  those  between  ix-x  and 
xi.  4-17,  xiii.  7-9)  might  no  doubt  be  accounted  for  by  the 
fact  that  the  prophecies,  even  though  they  may  be  the 
work  of  the  same  author,  were  not  written  by  him  at  the 
same  time,  and  do  not  reflect  the  same  historical  situa- 
tion (so  Kuiper).  The  question  must  be  left  an  open 
one.  Stade,  Marti,  and  G.  A.  Smith,  though  they  allow 
that  unity  of  authorship  cannot  be  proved,  think  the 
differences,  in  view  of  the  plastic  character  of  the  eschato- 
logical  material,  not  far-reaching  enough  to  imply  a 
difference  of  author  :  Nowack,  on  the  other  hand,  is  of 
opinion  that  the  phenomena  presented  by  the  chapters 
point  to  the  conclusion  that  they  consist  of  four  distinct 
prophecies  (ix.  i — xi.  3  ;  xi.  4-17,  xiii.  7-9  ;  xii.  i— xiii.  6; 
xiv),  the  work  of  four  different  authors. 

The  prophecies  contained  in  Zech.  ix-xiv  are  thus 
suggested  in  part  (ix.  1-8  ;  x.  3  f. ;  xi.  4fr. ;  xii.  5  and  7 
(rivalry  between  Judah  and  Jerusalem) ;  xii.  10)  by  the 
circumstances  of  the  time,  though  we  are  not  in  a  position 
to  say  definitely  what  the  circumstances  alluded  to  are. 


INTRODUCTION  235 

Except,  however,  in  xi.  4  14  (15  17  :)'  which  has  a 
character  of  its  own,  the  writer  does  not  deal  so  largely 
with  his  own  present,  as  the  prophets  generally  do.  He 
does  not,  like  the  older  prophets  (e.  g.  Is.  i,  vj,  attack  the 
moral  or  social  abuses  of  his  time,  or  denounce  religious 
backsliding,  or  call  to  repentance  ;  he  lives  in  the  future, 
and  we  only  learn  indirectly,  or  incidentally  (e.  g.  x.  2,  xiii. 
2-6),  what  the  faults  of  his  contemporaries  are,  or  what 
reforms  he  would  introduce  among  them.  In  xii.  2  f., 
xiv.  2f.,  14,  the  assault  of  'all'  nations  is  connected 
loosely  with  the  present ;  it  is  thus  (p.  233),  though  ex- 
pected to  take  place  shortly,  an  eschatological  trait.  In 
the  representations  given  in  them  of  the  future  kingdom 
of  God,  the  prophecies  consist  largely  of  re-affirmations, 
in  form  adapted  to  the  age  in  which  they  were  written, 
of  characteristic  elements  of  older  prophecies — victory 
over  foes,  Ephraim  restored,  the  advent  of  the  age  of 
godliness  (xiii.  9),  felicity,  and  peace  (ix.  10,  17,  x.  4-12, 
xii.  6,  &c.),  the  removal  of  idolatry  and  spurious  prophecy 
(xiii.  2-6),  and  purification  from  sin  (xiii.  1).  Ch.  xiv, 
moreover,  anticipates  a  time  when  monotheism  will  pre- 
vail throughout  the  world,  and  all  nations  will  serve 
Yahweh,--with  the  limitation,  however,  that  the  thought 
is  expressed  under  the  forms  of  the  Jewish  dispensation, 
which  even  the  most  catholic  of  the  prophets  could  not 
conceive  as  entirely  abolished,  Jerusalem  the  religious 
centre  of  the  world,  the  feast  of  Booths  observed,  and 
other  ceremonial  institutions  in  force  (xiv.  9  f.,  16,  20  f.). 
The  ideal  of  Zech.  ix-xiv  is,  in  one  word  (Marti),  *a 
Judaized  world-empire,  with  the  Prince  of  Peace  ruling 
in  Jerusalem.' 

Explanation  of  Symbols. 

A  ^,  A  ',  A  ^  A  *  .  .  .  .  Four  anonymous  Prophecies, 
perhaps  the  work  of  four  dis- 
tinct Prophets. 


ZECHARIAH   IX— XIV 

9      [A^]  The  ^  burden  of  the  word  of  the  Lord  upon  the 
land  of  Hadrach,  and  Damascus  ska//  be  its  resting  place: 

*  Or,  oracle 


ix-xi,  xiii.  7-9.  This  prophecy  falls  into  two  main  parts  :  (i) 
ix-x  a  symbolic  picture  of  the  overthrow  of  the  heathen,  and 
estabHshment  of  the  kingdom  of  God  ;  (2)  xi.  4-14,  xiii.  7-9 
Israel's  misgovernment  by  certain  evil  'shepherds,'  and  the 
consequences  for  both  it  and  them.  The  interpretation  of  xi.  1-3 
is  uncertain  (see  the  notes).  As  shown  in  the  Introduction,  the 
prophecy  is  almost  certainly  later  than  b.  c.  333,  the  year  of 
Alexanders  victory  over  the  Persians  at  Issus,  and  reflects  some 
part,  or  parts,  of  the  anxious  and  often  troubled  years  which 
began  then  for  Palestine  :  but  our  very  meagre  knowledge  of  the 
internal  history  of  Judah  during  this  period  (till  c.  175)  prevents 
us  from  fixing  the  date  more  precisely. 

ix.   Establishment  of  the  Messianic  kingdom. 

1-8.  Yahweh's  judgement  upon  Syria,  Phoenicia,  and  the 
Philistines,  enabling  the  depopulated  territory  to  be  made  a 
province  in  the  Messianic  kingdom  (y.  9  ff.).  The  tide  of  invasion 
iiweeps  on  from  the  North,  over  Syria,  Phoenicia,  and  Palestine, 
destroying  all  before  it  vv.  1-6)  ;  the  few  survivors  are  cleansed 
from  their  iniquities,  and  incorporated  in  Judah,  which  is  pro- 
tected by  its  God  [yv.  7,  8). 

1.  The  oracle  (or  utterance :  see  on  Nah.  i.  i)  of  Yahweh's 
word.  A  peculiar  combination,  recurring  only  xii.  i,  Mai.  i.  i 
see  p.  285  n.  Here  the  expression  is  the  more  peculiar,  from  what 
is  elsewhere  the  title  of  a  prophecy  forming  part  of  a  sentence. 
Stade  and  Marti,  supposing  '  Yahweh'  to  have  fallen  out,  would 
read,  'The  oracle  of  Yahweh's  word.  Yahweh  is  in  the  land  of 
Hadrach,  and  Damascus  is  his  resting  place '  (Ps.  cxxxii.  8),  i.  e. 
Yahweh  is  in  these  two  countries,  and  holds  them,  as  conquests, 
for  His  people  (cf.  v.  x<^).  For  the  idea,  if  the  text  be  kept  as  it 
is,  of  Yahweh's  word  (of  judgement)  'resting,'  or  alighting,  upon 
a  country,  cf.  Is.  ix.  8. 

Hadrach.  The  name  of  a  country  mentioned  in  the  Assyrian 
Inscriptions,  sometimes  beside  Damascus  and  Hamath,  sometimes 
beside  Zobah,  ^emar  and  ArJ<a  (Gen.  x.  17),  and  hence  certainly 


ZECHARIAH  9.  2,  ?,.     A'  237 

for  othe  eye  of  man  and  of  all  the  tribes  of  Israel  is 
toward  the  Lord  :   and  Hamath  also  which  bordereth  2 
thereon  :   Tyre  and  Zidon,  ^  j^ecause  she  is  very  wise. 
And  Tyre  did  build  herself  a  strong  hold,  and  heaped  up  3 

*  Or,  f/ie  Lord  hath  an  eye  upon  men  and  upon  all  the  tribes  of 
Israel 

^  Or,  though 

somewhere  on  the  N.  of  Palestine, — in  the  map  at  the  end  of 
KAT.^  placed  between  Hamath  and  Riblah. 

for  the  eye,  &c.  The  rendering  of  RV.,  though  unexception- 
able grammatically,  cannot  be  right  :  for  the  sense  which  it  yields 
is  incongruous  with  the  context.  If  the  text  is  correct,  RVm. 
must  be  followed,  the  meaning  then  being  that  Yahweh  has  an 
eye  upon  all  mankind  to  render  to  every  one  according  to  his 
doings  (cf.  Jer.  xxxii.  19  :  in  v.  20,  also,  Israel  and  '  men  '  generally 
are  opposed  as  here).  The  obj.  gen.  ('  eye  of  man'  =  'eye  upon 
man ')  is,  however,  forced  ;  and  perhaps  we  should  read,  with 
Klost.,  Marti,  '  For  to  Yahweh  belong  the  cities  of  Aram  (Syria) 
and  all  the  tribes  of  Israel  '  (c~»s  nr  for  cis*  jr-X  The  'tribes  of 
I  Israel '  are  mentioned  because,  as  '  Ephraim '  in  the  sequel  shows 
iv.  10  &c.),  the  writer  has  here  in  view  the  nation  in  its  ideal 
completeness. 

i  2.  Hamath,  Tyre,  and  Zidon,  also,  will  now  become  part  of 
lYahweh's  domnin.  The  verse  carries  on  either  'and  Damascus' 
|in  V.  I, or,  if  Klost.'s  emendation  be  adopted,  'the  cities  of  Aram,'  &c. 
[  thereon :  i.e.  on  Damascus.  Hamath  (now  Hama)  was 
an  important  city,  with  its  own  king,  often  mentioned  in  the 
'Assyrian  Inscriptions,  and  also  in  the  6.  T.  esp.  as  fixing  the  ideal 
N.  limit  of  Israelitish  territory  Nu.  xxxiv.  8  ;  Ez.  xlvii,  17  ;  cf. 
I  K.  viii.  65,  Am.  vi.  14),  It  was  some  distance  to  the  N.  of 
Lebanon,  and  about  120  miles  N.  of  Damascus.  It  is  still  a  place 
of  considerable  size. 

she  is.     Read  probably,  with  LXX,  they  are  ("rarn  for  rP2Dn). 

very  wise:  viz.,  as  v.  3  explains,  in  the  worldly  arts  of  con- 
structing fortifications  and  amassing  wealth.     Cf  Ez.  xxviii.  3. 

3,  4.  Tyre,  in  spite  of  its  strength  and  wealth,  is  doomed  b^- 
Yahweh  to  destruction.  Tyre,  after  a  seven  months'  siege,  was 
taken  hy  Alexander  in  332,  and  its  inhabitants  were  either  slain 
or  sold  into  slaver}'.  If  the  prophecy  was  reallj'  written  as  earh^ 
as  Kuiper  supposes  (p.  232)  this  will  be  the  approaching  conquest 
of  Tyre  referred  to. 

3.  a  strong  hold.  Better,  fortifications  ;  properly,  an  enclostive 
or  enclosing  ivall.  In  the  Hebrew  (nulsor)  there  is  a  play  upon 
Tyre    Heb.  Zor). 


23S  ZECHARIAH    9.  4-6.     A^ 

silver  as  the  dust,  and  fine  gold  as  the  mire  of  the  streets. 

4  Behold,  the  Lord  will  dispossess  her,  and  he  will  smite 
^  her  power  in  the  sea ;  and  she  shall  be  devoured  with 

5  fire.  Ashkelon  shall  see  it,  and  fear ;  Gaza  also,  and 
shall  be  sore  pained;  and  Ekron,  for  her  expectation  shall 
be  ashamed :  and  the  king  shall  perish  from  Gaza,  and 

6  Ashkelon  shall  not  be  inhabited.     And  ^''  a  bastard  shall 

*  Or,  the  sea  which  is  her  rampart     Or,  her  rampart  into  the  sea 
^  Or,  a  bastard  race 


heaped  up,  &c.  With  allusion  to  the  gains  made  in  trade. 
*  Dust '  and  '  mire '  are  figures  of  abundance  (Job  xxvii.  16).  For 
a  graphic  picture  of  the  commerce  of  Tyre,  see  Ez.  xxvii. 

4.  power.  Or,  stibstancc,  riches;  see  Ez.  xxviii.  4,5,  where  the 
same  word  is  thrice  so  rendered.  Or,  if  I'^n  were  taken,  as  it  very 
well  might  be,  as  merely  a  variant  spelling  for  bn,  the  meaning 
would  be  rampart  (see  Nah.  iii.  8), — ivill  smite  her  ratnpaii  into  the 
sea  (RVm.). 

and  she.     The  pron.  is  emphatic  :  and  she  herself. 

5.  The  alarm  of  the  Philistines  at  the  fall  of  the  strongholds  of 
Phoenicia  :  with  a  foe  advancing  from  the  north,  the  main  impedi- 
ment to  his  march  southwards  would  thus  be  removed,  and  their 
own  turn  might  be  expected  next.  Four  of  the  five  Phiiistine 
cities  (i  S.  vi.  17  f.)  are  mentioned,  the  one  omitted  being  Gath, 
which  is  passed  by  also  in  Am.  i.  6,  8,  Zeph.  ii.  4,  Jer.  xxv.  20. 

her  expectation.  Or,  her  hope  :  properlj-,  that  to  zvhich  she 
looked  (viz.  for  help),  the  same  word  which  is  used,  in  the  same 
sense,  in  Is.  xx.  5,  6  (of  Cush,  as  the  political  hope  of  JudahX 
What  is  meant  is  Tyre  (vv.  3,  4),  to  which,  after  the  subjugation 
of  Syria  {vv.  i,  2),  the  cities  of  Philistia  would  look  to  check  the 
further  advance  of  the  invader. 

he  inhahited.     Lit.  *  sit '  :  see  on  ii.  4. 

6.  Render  either,  And  a  bastard  race  (or  half-breeds)  shall 
dwell,  or.  And  a  bastard  (or  half-breed)  shall  sit  (as  king) ;  for 
'bastard'  may  be  meant  either  collectively  or  individually,  and 
ydshab  ma^^  mean  either  divell,  or  sit  (enthroned,  or  as  king), 
Ps.  xxix.  10,  Am.  i.  5  RVm.  ;  the  former  rendering  is  the  more 
probable.  Mamzer  {Dt.  xxiii.  2)  means,  according  to  the  Rabbis, 
the  issue  of  an  incestuous  marriage  :  here,  however,  it  probably 
denotes  more  generally  half-breeds  (Smith\  LXX  dWoytvas,  with 
reference  to  the  refuse  population,  apt  to  collect  in  forsaken  towns 
or  villages  the  choice  of  the  word  may  have  been  suggested  by 
Neh.  xiii.  23  f.  .     The  verse  will  tlicn  depict  the  utter  humiliation 


ZECHARIAH    9.  7,  8.     A^  239 

8  dwell  in  Ashdod,  and  I  will  cut  off  the  pride  of  the 
Philistines.     And  I  will  take  away  his  blood  out  of  his  7 
mouth,  and  his  abominations  from  between  his  teeth ; 
and  he  also  shall  be  a  remnant  for  our  God  :  and  he  shall 
be  as  a  chieftain  in  Judah,  and  Ekron  as  a  Jebusite.   And  ^ 

*  Or,  sit  as  king 

of  Philistia  (cf.  v.  6^)  :  its  native  population  gone,  and  their  place 
taken  by  miserable  half-breeds.  That  each  city  has  its  own 
particular  doom  is  of  course  merely  a  trait  in  the  poetical  repre- 
sentation :  the  judgements,  each  and  all.  must  be  thought  of  as 
affecting  the  whole  population. 

the  pride,  &c.  :  i.  e,  their  political  independence. 
7.  The  half-breeds  thus  occupying  the  Philistine  territory  will 
be   cleansed  from  their  idolatry,  and  incorporated  as  Yahweh- 
worshippers  in  the  community  of  Judah.     The  pronouns  he,  hts, 
refer  to  the  half-breed  race  as  a  whole. 

his  blood.  Alluding  to  heathen  or  idolatrous  sacrifices, 
which  were  eaten  (cf.  Nu.  xxv.  2)  ^  with  the  blood '  (Ez.  xxxiii. 
25),  as  opposed  to  the  legitimate  Israelitish  sacrifices,  which, 
when  partaken  of  by  the  worshippers,  as  in  the  case  of  the  '  peace 
offerings,'  were  scrupulously  drained  of  blood  (i  S.  xiv.  32  f.; 
Lev.  xvii.  11,  14  ct/.). 

abominations.  Better  (see  DB.  s.  v. '  Abomination'),  detest- 
able thing's :  here  either  (cf.  clause  a)  of  the  flesh  of  heathen 
sacrifices, —  y^jrp  being  often  used,  especially  in  Deuteronomic 
writers  and  Ezekiel  (e.g.  i  K.  xi.  5,  7,  Ez.  v.  11),  of  heathen 
gods, — or  of  rites  and  objects  connected  with  their  worship ;  or 
perhaps  of  the  flesh  of  animals  ceremonially  '  unclean '  (Lev.  xi), 
cf.  nearly  the  same  word   (yp;i;)  in  Lev.  xi.  10,  11,  12,  13,  &c. 

and  he  also,  &c.  Even  this  mixed  population  will  yield 
a  '  remnant '  to  become  worshippers  of  Yahweh.  Isaiah's  doctrine 
of  the  'remnant'  (see  on  Zeph.  iii.  11)  is  applied  here  to  the 
inhabitants  of  Philistia. 

as  a  chieftain.  Rather,  as  a  clan-chief;  the  Heb.  word  being 
the  one  used  of  the  tribal  or  clan-chiefs  of  Edom  in  Gen.  xxxvi. 
15-19,  Ex.  XV.  15,  where  it  is  rendered  Muke '  (i.e.  dux,  LXX 
Tiyov/xevos),  and  the  meaning  being  that  the  survivors  just  mentioned 
will  acquire  then  the  dignity  of  a  clan-chief  in  Judah.  It  is  better, 
however,  changing  merely  the  points,  to  read  as  a  clan  (for  the 
word,  see  Jud.  vi.  15  EVV.  family ;  Mic.  v.  2  RVm.  families) : 
the  meaning  will  then  be  that  the  survivors  who  become  worship- 
pers of  Yahweh  will  be  incorporated  in  Judah,  and  take  in  it  the 


240  ZECHARIAH    9.  9.     A* 

I  will  encamp  about  mine  house  ^  against  the  army,  that 

none  pass  through  or  return:  and   no  ^^ oppressor  shall 

pass  through  them  any  more :  for  now  have  I  seen  with 

mine  eyes. 

9      Rejoice  greatly,  O  daughter  of  Zion  ;  shout,  O  daughter 

of  Jerusalem  :  behold,  thy  king  cometh  unto  thee  :  he  is 

just,  and  c  having  ^  salvation ;  low^y,  and  riding  upon  an 

*  Or,  as  otherwise  read,  as  a  garrison  ^  Or,  exactor 

'^  Heb.  saved.  •*  Or,  victory 

same  rank  as  a  native  Judahite  clan,  while  a  Philistine  city,  such 
as  Ekron,  will  rank  with  the  Jebusites  or  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem 
itself. 

Jebusite.  An  archaism  for  Jentsaleniiie, — the  'Jebusites' 
being  the  old  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  until  expelled  by  David 
(2S.  V.  6ff.). 

8.  But  Yahweh  will  protect  His  temple,  and  Jerusalem,  that 
no  hostile  army,  or  oppressor,  assail  them  any  more. 

about.     Rather,  for  (the  protection  of). 

against  the  army.  There  is  no  art.  in  the  Hebrew  :  render 
rather,  that  there  be  no  army,  (even)  none  passing  by  or  returning. 
But  probably  RVm.  as  a  garrison  (cf.  i  S.  xiii.  23)  is  right. 

that  none :  i.  e.  that  there  be  no  more  armies  passing  to  and 
fro  through  Palestine,  and  threatening  Jerusalem.  The  verse 
might  well  have  been  written  at  some  time  between  320  and  300 
B.  c,  when  the  armies  of  Alexander's  surviving  generals,  or  of 
his  successors,  repeatedly  traversed  Palestine  (pp.  231  f.)  in  one 
direction  or  another,  in  the  struggle  to  secure  Palestine  and  Coele- 
Syria. 

oppressor.  The  Heb.  ndgas  means  properly  '  to  press  hard,' 
whether  as  a  taskmaster  (Ex.  v.  6^,  or  by  other  violence  (Is.  iii. 
5,  liii.  7),  or  as  a  foreign  '  oppressor '  i  Is.  ix.  4,  xiv.  2, 4),  or  (RVm.> 
an  'exactor'  -2  K.  xxiii.  35^ 

throngh  them.     Rather,  by  them  ;  e.  g.  bj'  the  coast-route. 

for  now  have  I  seen  with  mine  eyes :  viz.  the  violence 
done  to  my  people,  and,  it  is  implied,  am  prepared  to  interpose  and 
check  it.      Cf.  Ex.  iii.  7  ;  Ps.  x.  14. 

B-\*7.  The  Messianic  king  enters  his  capital  in  triumph,  as  the 
Prince  of  peace  {vv,  9-10)  ;  and  the  Israelites  still  in  exile,  having 
vanquished  the  Greeks,  return  to  dwell  in  safety  in  their  own  land. 

9.  The  advent  of  the  ideal  King,  or  Messiah,  is  an  occasion 
worthy  to  be  greeted  by  Zion  with  acclamation  and  rejoicing. 

daugrhter :  the  personified  population  ;  cf.  Zeph.  iii.  14. 
just.     Or,  rigrhteous.    The  first  attribute  of  a  ruler,  and  hence 


ZECH.VKIAH   y.  lo.     A'  241 

ass,  even  upon  a  colt  the  foal  of  an  ass.     And  I  will  cut  10 
off  the  chariot  from  Ephraim,  and  the  horse  from  Jeru- 

predicated  emphatically  of  the  Messianic  king,  Is.  xi.  3-5,  xvi.  5, 
Jer.  xxiii.  5  (||  xxxiii.  15).  The  position  of  the  word  before 
•saved'  '\.&.  victorious),  and  the  fact  that  the  rule  of  the  ideal 
king  is  first  characterized  in  v.  10^,  lead  Hitz.,  Now.,  and  Marti, 
however,  to  think  that  it  has  here  the  meaning  of  in  the  right  (viz. 
against  his  foes) ;  cf.  for  this  sense  of  the  word  Dt.  xxv.  i. 

having'  salvation.  The  Heb.  word  is  a  passive  participle, 
and  means  simply  saved  (Dt.  xxxiii.  29  ;  Ps.  xxxiii.  16),  viz. 
through  Yahweh's  having  given  him  '  salvation,'  i.  e.  (see  on 
Hab.  iii.  8)  deliverance  from  his  foes.  The  Messiah  is  described 
not  as  bringing, victory  or  salvation,  but  as  the  passive  recipient  of 
it.  '  Saved '  is,  however,  rather  a  poor  word  to  use  in  such  a  con- 
nexion ;  and  victorious  is  the  word  that  would  most  adequately 
express  what  is  intended. 

lowly.  This  is  1:^,  not  '3y,  the  word  used  here  (see  '  Poor  '  in 
DB.) ;  to  obtain  the  idea  '  lowly '  or  '  humble '  (cf.  LXX.  vpats^ 
'meek  ' ;  so  Mt.  xxi.  5),  we  must  alter  the  text  and  read^;^,  *3y, 
properly  afflicted,  poor,  is  the  word  used  often,  as  explained  on 
Hab.  iii.  14,  Zeph.  iii.  12,  to  denote  the  pious  servants  of  God  ; 
and  that  is  probably  the  sense  which  it  has  here  :  it  characterizes 
the  Messiah  as  belonging  '  not  to  the  worldly  or  godless  party 
dominant  in  Jerusalem,  but  to  that  of  the  oppressed  pious'  (We.). 

riding  upon  an  ass.  Another  point  in  which  Israels  ideal 
king  will  differ  alike  from  the  earlier  kings  of  Israel  and  from 
ordinary  worldly  rulers  ;  he  will  appear  riding,  not  like  a  worldly 
conqueror  on  his  war-horse  (for  in  his  day  the  war-horse  is  to  be 
no  more,  v.  10),  but  upon  the  ass,  the  beast  of  peace  (cf.  Gen. 
xlix.  ii).  See  the  fulfilment  in  Mt.  xxi.  5,  John  xii.  15.  But,  as 
in  other  cases,  the  prophet's  ideal  as  a  whole,  in  the  form  in 
which  he  projected  it,  has  never  been  fulfilled :  for  the  picture 
drawn  by  him  is  not  that  of  a  spiritual  ruler,  swaying  the  hearts  of 
men  by  the  influences  of  a  great  religion,  but  that  of  a  conqueror, 
returning  from  the  defeat  of  earthly  foes,  cutting  off  the  implements 
of  war,  and  securing  peace  for  his  subjects  by  righteous  govern- 
ment. 

10.  All  implements  of  war  will  be  destroyed ;  the  ideal  king 
will  maintain  a  far-reaching  rule  of  peace.  For  the  picture,  cl. 
Hos.  ii.  18^,  Is.  ii.  4  (-^Mic.  iv.  3^  ix.  5.  Mic.  v.  10. 

I  wUl  cut  off.     LXX,  We.,  Now.,  Marti,  he  will  cut  off. 

from  Ephraim.  The  prophet  pictures  the  northern  tribes 
as  restored  to  their  old  homes,  which  are  now  {v.  i  fl".^  free  for 
them  to  occupy.  So  in  the  sequel,  v.  13,  x.  6,  7,  10.  Cf.  Is.  xi. 
12;  Jcr.  iii.  12.  18.  xxxi.  4-9,  15-20;  Zech.  viii.  13,  tScc. 

R 


242  ZECHAKIAH    9.  u.     A^ 

salem,  and  the  battle  bow  shall  be  cut  off;  and  he  shall 

speak  peace  unto  the  nations :  and  his  dominion  shall  be 

from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  *  the  River  to  the  ends  of  the 

II  earth.     As  for  thee  also,  because  of  the  blood  of  thy 

^  See  Ex.  xxiii.  31. 

speak  peace  vinto  the  nations.  He  will  maintain  peace 
among  the  nations,  who  are  represented  as  owning  his  sway, 
»ot  by  force,  but  by  his  righteous  decisions  (cf.  Is.  ii.  4*  =  Mic. 
iv.  3»). 

from  sea  to  sea,  &ic.  Verbally  as  Ps.  Ixxii.  8,  also  of  the 
ideal  king.  The  '  River '  is  of  course  the  Euphrates,  the  ideal 
limit  of  Israel's  territory  towards  the  E.  in  the  promises  Gen.  xv. 
18,  Ex.  xxiii.  31,  Dt.  i.  7,  xi.  24,  Jos.  i.  4  (cf.  Is.  xxvii  12)  :  the 
two  'seas'  will  be  the  Mediterranean  Sea  (Dt.  xL  24;  Jos.  i.  4) 
and  the  vaguely  known  sea  supposed  to  encircle  the  E.  of  Asia. 
The  entire  picture  is  of  a  rule  like  that  of  Solomon  (i  K.  iv.  21, 
cf.  vv.  24^,  25,  34),  extended  so  as  to  embrace  in  effect  the  entire 
known  earth. 

11-12.  The  Israelites  scattered  among  the  heathen  may  now 
hope  for  restoration  ;  and  Zion  will  receive  double  compensation 
for  what  she  has  gone  through.  If  the  prophecy  dates  from  b.  c. 
332,  the  reference  may  be  general  (cf.  Is.  xxvii.  13)  ;  if  it  is  later, 
the  reference  may  be  in  particular  (cf.  v.  13)  to  Jews  settled,  or 
enslaved,  in  Greek  cities,  who  after  Alexander's  conquests  soon 
became  numerous  :  Josephus,  for  instance,  tells  us  (Ant.  xii.  i) 
that  Ptolemy  Lagi  (b.  c.  322-285)  transported  many  either  as 
slaves  or  as  compulsory  settlers  to  Egypt,  others  also  migrated 
there  voluntarily  on  account  of  the  advantages  which  the  country 
offered  them  (cf.  MahafTy,  Empire  of  the  Ptolemies,  p.  85  ff.  ;  and 
Schiirer,  art.  'Diaspora'  in  DB.  v.  91,  95,  96,  &c.).  Seleucus 
Nicator  (b.  c.  312-280),  also,  planted  many  Jewish  colonists  in 
Antioch  and  elsewhere,  giving  them  rights  of  citizenship  ^^Jos.  Ant. 
xii.  3.  I). 

11.  Thou  also.  The  pron.  is  fem.,  showing  that  the  daughter 
of  Zion  (v.  9)  is  still  addressed.  But  the  '  also '  refers  really  to 
the  '  prisoners '  :  these  also — i.  e.  the  Israelites  still  in  captivity — 
will  share  in  Yahweh's  deliverance,  as  well  as  those  in  Judah 
and  Jerusalem. 

because  of  the  blood  of  thy  covenant.  Because  of  Yahweirs 
covenant  with  Israel,  which  was  concluded  solemnly  with  blood 
(Ex.  xxiv.  5-8).  It  is  argued,  however,  that  had  this  been  the 
meaning,  my  covenant  would  have  been  said  ;  and  so  Now.,  Smith, 
Marti  render  because  of  thy  covenant-blood,  i.  e.  the  blood  which 
the  people  shed  daily  in  sacrifice  to  maintain  the  covenant. 


ZECHARIAH   9.  12-14.     A^  243 

covenant  I  have  sent  forth  thy  prisoners  out  of  the  pit 
wherein  is  no  water.  ^Turn  you  to  the  strong  hold,  ye  12 
prisoners  of  hope :  even  to-day  do  I  declare  that  I  will 
render  double  unto  thee.  For  I  have  bent  Judah  for  me,  13 
I  have  filled  the  bow  with  Ephraim ;  and  I  will  stir  up 
thy  sons,  O  Zion,  against  thy  sons,  O  ^  Greece,  and  will 
make  thee  as  the  sword  of  a  mighty  man.    And  the  Lord  14 

*  Or,  Reiurn  ^  Heb.  Javan. 

have  sent  forth :  i.e.  will  assuredly  send  forth  ;  cf.  Mai.  ii.  9. 

thy  prisoners.  I.  e.  thy  children  still  in  captivity  :  cf.  Ps. 
Ixix.  33  (see  v.  35),  cii.  20. 

the  pit  (Gen.  xxxvii.  24 '.  Or,  the  dnngfeon  (Jer.  xxxviii.  6)  : 
in  either  case  a  figure  of  captivity. 

wherein  is  no  water.  And  in  which,  consequently,  the 
prisoner  vjzs  in  danger  of  perishing  from  thirst. 

12.  These  'prisoners,'  who  now  at  length  may  cherish  'hope' 
of  deliverance,  are  accordingly  invited  to  return  (RVm.)  to  the 
'  strong  hold,'  fig.  of  their  home,  as  a  place  of  security, — perhaps 
with  allusion  to  the  rocky  fastnesses  of  Palestine. 

even  to-day.  Rather,  to-day  (i.  e.  now)  also,— viz.  as  before, 
when  the  return  granted  by  Cyrus  was  in  prospect.  '  Thee '  is 
Zion  {v.  13). 

double.     I.  e.  double  compensation  :  cf.  Is.  Ixi.  7. 
13-16.  The  great  victory  which  the  Jews,  with  Yahweh's  help, 
will  gain  over  the  Greeks,  inaugurating  thereby  the   Messianic 
age  {v.  9  f.). 

13*.  A  poetical  way  of  saying  that  the  warriors  of  Israel  are 
weapons  in  Yahweh's  hand :  Judah  is  His  bow,  and  Ephraim  His 
arrows.  As  before  (v.  10),  the  Israelites  of  the  Northern  kingdom  are 
pictured  as  brought  back  from  exile,  and  taking  part  in  the  conflict. 
13*'.  and  will  make  thee— i.  e.  Zion — as  the  sword  of  a  mighty 
man :  i.  e.  of  a  warrior  (see  on  Nah.  ii.  3). 

Greece,  Heb.  Yavan.  I.  e.  'Idfovf^,  lonians,  the  name  by 
which  the  Greeks  were  always  known  to  the  Hebrews  (Gen.  x. 
2,  4;  Ez.  xxvii.  13  ;  Is.  Ixvi.  19 ;  Joel  iii.  6  Heb.  ;  Dan.  viii.  20, 
31,  xi.  2). 

14.  In  the  midst  of  the  fray,  Yahweh  Himself  will  appear  above 
the  combatants,  in  order  to  help  the  Israelites.  The  imagery  is 
evidently  suggested  by  a  great  storm  ;  but  whereas  elsewhere 
(e.  g.  Is,  XXX.  30)  the  lightning,  for  instance,  is  Yahweh's  arrow, 
and  the  thunder  is  His  voice,  here  His  arrows  (Hab.  iii.  11  al.) 
are  only  compared  to  llie  lightning. 

R    2 


244  ZECHARIAH  9.  15,  16.     A^ 

shall  be  seen  over  them,  and  his  arrow  shall  go  forth  as 
the  lightning :  and  the  Lord  God  shall  blow  the  trumpet, 

15  and  shall  go  with  whirlwinds  of  the  south.  The  Lord  of 
hosts  shall  defend  them  ;  and  they  shall  devour,  and  shall 
tread  down  the  sling  stones ;  and  they  shall  drink,  and 
make  a  noise  as  through  wine :  and  they  shall  be  filled 

16  like  bowls,  like  the  corners  of  the  altar.     And  the  Lord 


blow  the  trtimpet :  the  signal  for  the  attack. 

in  whirlwinds  of  the  south.  Such  as  were  especially  vehe- 
ment and  destructive  (Is,  xxi.  i  ;  cf.  Job  xxxvii,  9).  For  Yahvveh 
traveUing  in  the  storm,  cf.  on  Nah.  i.  3^ 

15.  they  shall  devour,  &c.  If  the  text  is  correct,  the  meaning 
must  he  shall  devour  {their  enemies),  and  trample  down  contemptu- 
ously the  sling  stones  which  have  been  hurled  against  them,  but 
have  missed  their  mark.  But  perhaps  We.,  Now.,  Marti  are  right 
in  reading,  and  they  shall  prevail  (ibo'i  for  i?3Ni),  and  tread  down 
the  sons  of .  .  .  {"ii  for  ':in)  ;  the  word  rendering  *  sling '  being 
a  corruption  of  the  name  or  description  of  their  foes. 

and  they  shall  drink  (viz.  their  blood),  and  make  a  noise  as 
(through)  wine  (i.  e.  as  if  intoxicated  through  wine).  But  a  much 
better  sense  is  obtained  by  reading,  with  MSS.  of  LXX,  dot 
for  yorv\ ;  we  then  get,  and  they  shall  drink  their  hlood  as 
wine ;  cf.  the  next  clause. 

and  they  shall  be  filled  (viz.  with  the  blood)  like  bowls. 
The  '  bowls '  (lit.  tossing-vessels  ;  EVV.  '  basons,'  Ex.  xxxviii.  3  al.) 
in  which  the  sacrificial  blood  was  thrown  in  a  volume,  or  tossed 
(sdrak),  against  the  sides  of  [not  'upon']  the  altar,  Lev. i. 5,  ii  al. 
(RV.  unfortunately,  as  AV.,  'sprinkle,'  which  not  only  conveys 
an  incorrect  idea  of  the  action  meant,  but  also  confuses  it  with  an 
entirely  different  word,  correctly  rendered  sprinkle,  Lev.  iv.  6, 
17)  V,  9,  viii.  II  al.). 

like  the  corners  of  the  altar.  Against  which,  as  just 
described,  the  blood  would  be  tossed, — in  such  a  way,  viz.  that 
with  two  tossings  the  four  sides  of  the  altar  were  drenched  with 
it  (Zebdhim  v.  4).  It  is  a  strange  picture  :  the  victorious  Jews  as 
full  of  the  blood  of  their  foes  as  the  sacrificial  basons  when  an 
animal  has  been  just  slaughtered  for  sacrifice  ;  and  as  drenched 
with  it  as  the  sides  of  the  altar  when  the  blood  has  just  been 
tossed  against  them.  But  it  reflects,  no  doubt,  the  animus  with 
which  a  people  that  had  suffered  much  regarded  its  oppressors. 
Cf.  Nu.xxiii,  24  (where,  however,  though  Israel  is  meant,  the  figure 
is  that  ul  a  wild  beast)  ;  also  Is.  xxxiv.  7,  Ixiii.  3. 


ZECHARIAH  9.  17.     A*  245 

their  God  shall  save  them  in  that  day  as  the  flock  of  his 
people  :  for  they  shall  he  as  the  stones  of  a  crown,  ^  lifted 
on  high  over  his  land.    For  how  great  is  ^  his  ^  goodness,  17 
and  how  great  is  ^  his  beauty  !  corn  shall  make  the  young 
men  flourish,  and  new  wine  the  maids. 

*  Or,  glittering  upon  dc.  ^  Or,  their        ^  Or,  prosperity 

16.  as  the  flock,  &c.  Better  (Keil),  (even)  his  people  as  a  flock  ^ ; 
for  (they  are)  stones  (i.  e.  jewels)  of  a  crown,  glittering  ^  (RVm.)  upon 
his  land ;  Yahweh  will  deliver  His  people,  and  tend  them  like 
a  flock,  for  they  are  as  jewels  upon  His  land,  which  He  prizes 
highly.  The  text  is,  however,  suspicious  :  the  comparison  to 
a  '  flock,'  and  afterwards  that  to  the  jewels  of  a  crown,  both  come 
in  abruptly :  the  subj.  '  they '  (rrDn)  after  '  for '  is  also  much 
desiderated.  '  For  (they  are)  stones'  looks  much  as  if  it  were  an 
error  for  'as  stones'  (':3x  'D  for  ^:i^?3)  ;  and  We.,  Now.,  Marti, 
would  omit  *  like  the  glittering  stones  of  a  crown  '  as  a  gloss,  and 
read  (Marti),  <■  And  Yahweh  their  God  will  save  them  in  that  day  ; 
like  a  flock  will  he  shepherd  them  (crT  for  vzv)  upon  his  land.'  The 
omission,  however,  is  violent ;  and  perhaps  '  as  jewels  of  a  crown 
glittering  upon  his  land  '  should  be  retained  after  '  shepherd  them.' 

17.  The  fertility  of  the  land,  and  the  happiness  of  the  people, 
after  their  deliverance. 

The  pronouns  must  refer  to  '  his  people,'  and  are  therefore  pro- 
perly, for  clearness,  rendered  their  in  RVm.  RV.  'his'  is 
intended  to  refer  to  Yahweh  ;  but  *  beauty  '  is  never  predicated 
of  Him.  3^^,  applied  to  Israel,  may  mean  either  fairness  (Hos. 
X.  11)  or  (RVm.)  prosperity  ;  but  its  goodness  or  good  things  (Gen. 
xlv.  18  ;  Is.  i.  i9\  and  its  beauty,  referring  to  the  land,  with 
a  slight  change  in  the  Heb.  pron.  (,We.,  Now.,  Marti),  would  be 
a  great  improvement.  For  fertility  of  the  soil  as  a  blessing  of  the 
Messianic  age,  see  on  viii.  12. 

corn  and  must  (see  on  Hag.  i.  11)  are  mentioned  as  two  of 
the  most  valued  gifts  of  the  soil  of  Canaan  (see  ibid.).  That  one 
is  to  make  'young  men  '  to  flourish,  and  the  other  '  maids,'  is  of 
course  merely  a  rhetorical  distinction  :  cf.  Is.  xi.  12  (where 
outcasts  is  masc,  and  dispersed  fern.). 

^  Reading    ]NS3   for    ;x23. 

^  Implying  msi'"i:no  for  mrDi3r.D  :  cf.  V""-"  'spark'  (Is.  i.  31), 
C'l'LO:  *  sparkling '  (Ez.  i.  7).  ntCiino,  if  correct,  would  mean 
lifte-d  up  as  an  ensign  (AV.),  an  improbable  epithet  to  apply  to  the 
jewels  of  a  crown;  RV.  lifted  on  high  is  a  questionable  paraphrase 
of  this. 


246  ZECHARIAH  10.  I,  2.     A» 

10      Ask  ye  of  the  Lord  rain  in  the  time  of  the  latter  rain, 

€ve7i  of  the  Lord  that  maketh  lightnings ;  and  he  shall 

give  them  showers  of  rain,  to  every  one  grass  in  the  field. 

2  For  the  teraphim  have  spoken  vanity,  and  the  diviners 

have  seen  a  lie ;  and  ^  they  have  told  false  dreams,  they 

*  Or,  the  dreamers  speak  falsely 

X.  1-2.  A  short  piece  standing  b}'  iiself,  without  any  obvious 
connexion  either  with  ch.  ix  or  with  x.  3  ff.,  the  gist  of  which  is, 
Ask  help  of  Yahweh,  not  of  the  teraphim  or  diviners  ! 

1.  Render  :  Ask  of  Yahweli  rain  in  the  time  of  the  spring*- 
rain  !  Yahweh  maketh  the  lightning-flashes,  and  the  winter- 
rain  he  giveth  to  them,  to  every  one  herbage  in  the  field. 

rain.  The  occasion  of  the  prophecy  may  naturally  be 
supposed  to  have  been  a  failure  of  rain  at  a  time  when  it  was 
expected  and  required  ;  but  no  doubt  '  rain '  is  also  intended  as 
a  t3^pe  of  other  blessings,  which  are  dependent  upon  God's  favour 
and  peace. 

lattsr  rain.  Spring-rain  would  be  a  clearer  rendering. 
What  is  meant  is  the  rain  which  fell  in  March  or  April,  and  was 
needed  to  mature  the  ripening  crops  (cf.  Dt.  xi.  14  ;  Jer.  v.  24  ; 
Joel  ii.  23).  It  is  opposed  to  the  'former'  or  autumn-rain,  which 
fell  in  October  or  November,  and  was  necessary  to  fit  the  soil  to 
receive  the  seeds  (//.  cc.  ;  Jer.  iii.  3). 

Yahweh  maketh  lightning-flashes  (the  rare  word  found 
otherwise  only  Job  xxviii.  26,  xxxviii,  25)  :  the  precursors  and 
accompaniments  of  rain  (Ps.  cxxxv.  7).  The  words  give  the 
reason  why  rain  should  be  sought  from  Him. 

the  winter-rain.  *  Showers  of  rain '  is  a  weak  rendering  : 
geshent  means  a  burst  of  rain,  and  is  used  specially  of  the  heavj' 
rains  of  winter  (Cant  ii.  11  ;  Ezr.  x.  13  *  it  is  a  time  of  heavy 
rain ')  :  cf.  the  writer's  note  on  Am.  iv.  7. 

2.  For  the  teraphim  and  diviners  can  give  no  help,  but  are  on 
the  contrary  the  cause  of  the  calamities  under  which  the  people 
suffer. 

the  teraphim.  Probably  house-gods,  high!}'  venerated  b}' 
the  superstitious  Israelites  (Jud.  xvii.  5.  xviii.  14:  Hos.  iii.  4), 
regarded  as  the  givers  of  famil}'  prosperity  (cf.  Gen.  xxxi.  19), 
and  also  used  in  divination  (Ez.  xxi.  21).  Thej'^  were  apparentlj' 
figures  in  human  form  (i  S.  xix.  13.  16). 

have  spoken  .  .  .  have  seen  .  .  .  have  told.  Better,  speak 
.  .  .  see  .  .  .  tell :  an  established  fact,  not  an  event  of  recent 
occurrence,  is  what  is  referred  to.     For  *  see,'  cf.  on  Nah.  i.  i. 

vanity:  i.  e.  what  is  empty  and  useless.     Cf.  Is.  xli.  29. 

idle  dreams.      For  dreams  and  diviners  in  connexion,  cf. 


ZECHARIAH  10.  3.     A^  247 

comfort  in  vain :  therefore  they  go  their  way  like  sheep, 
they  are  afflicted,  because  there  is  no  shepherd. 

Mine  anger  is  kindled  against  the  shepherds,  and  I  will  3 
punish  the  he-goats  :  for  the  Lord  of  hosts  hath  visited 
his  flock  the  house  of  Judah,  and  shall  make  them  as  his 

Jer.  xxvii.  9,  xxix.  8.  RVm.  (which  is  a  paraphrase  of  '  the 
dreams  speak  falsely  [idly] ')  implies  a  not  very  probable  correc- 
tion of  the  text  {aw  mo'jnrT  for  Nicrr  nio^n). 

they  comfort  in  vain.  Viz.  when  they  promise  rain  and 
fruitful  seasons.     Cf.  Jer.  xiv.  22. 

therefore :  because,  viz.,  they  consult  teraphim  and  diviners, 
they  move  from  place  to  place  (Jer.  xxxi.  24  Heb.)  like 
sheep :  i.  e.  lead  an  unsettled,  restless  life,  and  fall  into  various 
misfortunes  for  lack  of  Yahweh's  guidance. 

For  *  they  are  afflicted,'  t/iey  zvander  about  (lyr  for  1:1")  would 
yield  an  idea  more  consonant  with  the  context. 

X.  3-12.  The  fall  of  the  godless  fat eigtt  tyrants.  Yahvveh  will 
visit  His  people,  free  them  from  their  foreign  rulers  ('shepherds' 
and  '  he-goats  '),  and  appoint  them  native  rulers  of  their  own  {vv. 
3,  4}.  Endued  with  new  strength,  they  will  thereupon  vanquish 
their  foes  ;  the  Ephraimites  in  exile  will  return  ;  Egypt  and  Assyria 
will  be  humbled  ;  and  the  restored  nation  will  glory  in  its  God 
{w.  5-T2  .  The  imagery  in  v.  3,  as  in  Jer.  xxiii.  1-4,  Ez.  xxxiv 
(where,  however,  the  *  shepherds  '  represent  native  rulers). 

3-5.  Yahweh  is  angry  with  the  '  shepherds,'  and  '■  he-goats,' 
by  both  of  which  foreign  rulers  seem  to  be  meant  (see  v.  4)  :  He 
will  visit  His  flock,  and  change  the  poor  leaderless  sheep,  the 
Jews,  into  war-horses,  give  them  strong  chiefs  of  their  own  and 
weapons  of  war  {v.  4),  and  enable  them  to  prevail  against  their 
enemies  {v.  5). 

3.  punish:  Heb.,  as  often,  viisit  upon.  See  the  next  note. 
hath  visited.  The  prophetic  perfect  =  will  visit.  The  word 
is  here  used  in  its  favourable  sense,  of  visiting  for  the  purpose  of 
delivering,  freeing  from  oppression,  &c.  (Ex.  iii.  16  ;  Jer.  xxix. 
10).  It  is  used  similarly  in  its  two  opposed  applications  in  Jer. 
xxiii.  2. 

he-sfoats.  Fig.  oi  leaders,  inlcrs,  as  Is.  xiv.  9  ;  Ez.  xxxiv.  17 
^here  of  the  Israelitish  magnates,  who  secured  all  the  best  things 
for  themselves,  vv.  18.  19). 

as  his  goodly  horse.  A  weak  rendering :  his  stately  (or 
majestic)  horse  is  what  the  Heb.  word  used  (Tin)  means.  Yahweh 
will  transform  His  helpless  sheep  into  splendid  war-horses.  A 
prophecy,  remarks  We.,  which  was  remarkably  fulfilled  in  the 
Maccabean  age. 


248  ZECHARIAH  10.  4-6.     A' 

4  goodly  horse  in  the  battle.  From  him  shall  come  forth 
the  corner  stone,  from  him  the  nail,  from  him  the  battle 

5  bow,  from  him  every  ^  exactor  together.  And  they  shall 
be  as  mighty  men,  treading  down  f/m'r  enemies  in  the  mire 
of  the  streets  in  the  battle ;  and  they  shall  fight,  because 
the  Lord  is  with  them  :  and  the  riders  on  horses  shall  be 

6  confounded.  And  I  will  strengthen  the  house  of  Judah, 
and  I  will  save  the  house  of  Joseph,  and  I  will  ^^  bring 

^  Or,  itiler  ^  Or.  catise  ihem  to  dwell 


4.  Judah  will  now  be  no  longer  under  the  rule  of  foreign 
tyrants,  but  will  have  native  rulers  of  its  own. 

Prom  him.  I.  e.  from  Judah :  cf.  Jer.  xxx.  21  ^  And  his  noble 
shall  be  from  himself,  and  his  ruler  shall  come  forth  from  his  midst ' 
(Dt.  xvii.  15).     'From  himself  would  be  here  clearer. 

the  corner  (stone).  Fig.  oi pHnces,  or  leading  men,  supports 
of  the  state.  See  Jud.  xx.  2,  and  i  S.  xiv.  38  (*  chiefs/  RVm. 
corners),  Is.  xix.  13.  The  same  figure  is  found  in  Arabic,  where 
nikn,  properly  the  •  corner '  upon  which  a  building  is  supported, 
also  means  a  '  noble.' 

the  nail.  Better,  the  tent-pin,  another  figure  for  those  who 
are  the  stays  or  supports  of  the  state. 

exactor.  Better,  governor,  ruler  (RVm.), — here,  unlike  ix. 
8,  without  any  bad  connotation,  as  Is.  iii.  12,  Ix.  17. 

5.  How,  their  martial  power  now  restored,  they  will  triumph 
over  their  foes. 

as  mig'hty  men.  I.  e.  as  warriors  (ix.  i3\  But  perhaps, 
interchanging  a  1  and  a  3,  we  should  read  (We.,  Now.,  Smith, 
Marti),  '  and  they  shall  tread  down  (more  exactly  be  treading* 
down)  the  mighty  men  as  mire  in  the  streets  ' :  the  comparison, 
as  Mic.  vii.  12 ;  Ps.  xviii.  42. 

the  riders  on  horses.  A  designation  of  the  foes,  su^ested 
perhaps  by  Ez.  xxxviii.  15.  cf.  xxiii.  6.  12,  23. 

6-7.  Thus  Judah  will  be  'strengthened,'  i.e.  autonomous  and 
victorious  ;  and  then  the  *  house  of  Joseph  '  also,  i.  e.  the  Israelites 
of  the  ten  tribes  still  in  exile  (cf.  ix.  10.  13,  will  be  brought  back, 
and  again  live  in  the  light  of  Yahweh's  fa /our,  and  s'.  7^  in  the 
consciousness  of  new  strength. 

6.  stren^hen.  Better,  give  mig-ht  to  (cognate  with  'mighty,' 
''.  5\  i.  e.  martial  prowess,  independence,  &c. 

hring  .  .  .  again.  Better,  bring  .  .  .  back.  '  Again,*  when 
AV.  was  made,  was  often  used  in  the  sense  of  '  back,'  and  the 


ZECHARIAH  10.  7-9.     A'  249 

them  again,  for  I  have  mercy  upon  them ;  and  they  shall 
be  as  though  I  had  not  cast  them  off :  for  I  am  the  Lord 
their  God,  and  I  will  hear  them.  And  Ihey  of  Ephraim  7 
shall  be  like  a  mighty  man,  and  their  heart  shall  rejoice 
as  through  wine:  yea,  their  children  shall  see  it,  and 
rejoice ;  their  heart  shall  be  glad  In  the  Lord.  I  will  8 
hiss  for  them,  and  gather  them;  for  I  have  redeemed 
them :  and  they  shall  increase  as  they  have  increased. 
^  And  I  will  sow  them  among  the  peoples ;  and  they  shall  9 

*  Or,  And  though  I  sow  them  .  .  .  they  shall  remember  &c. 


archaism  has  been  frequently  retained  in  RV.  (cf.  on  Nah.  ii.  2). 
But  it  is  liable  now  to  be  misunderstood ;  and  the  meaning  is 
more  clearly  expressed  by  back.  In  foi-mj  the  Hebrew  word  is 
anomalous,  and  looks  like  a  hybrid  form,  compounded  of  I  will  bring 
them  back,  and  /  will  cause  them  to  dwell  (RVm.).  The  anomaly 
can.  however,  in  reality  be  due  only  to  textual  corruption  ;  and  the 
context  shows  that  I  will  "bring  them  back  is  right. 

I  have  mercy.  Better,  I  have  taken  compassion  (the  proph. 
perfect).     Cf.  Jer.  xxxi.  20  (the  same  Heb.),  also  of  Ephraim, 

7.  The  Ephraimites'  proud  consciousness  of  their  new  strength. 
like  a  mighty  man.     I.  e.  like  a  warrior  {v.  5). 

shall  see  it.     Viz,  Yahweh's  deliverance  {v.  5^,  6*). 
8-9.  The  means  by  which  their  return  will  be  effected. 

8.  hiss  for  them.  Poet,  for  call  them  together,  the  figure 
being  borrowed  from  the  practice  of  bee-owners.  Cf.  Is.  v.  26, 
vii.  18. 

as  they  have  increased.  Viz.  in  the  past  :  they  shall  again 
be  as  numerous  as  they  were  before  the  judgement  overtook 
them.     Cf.  Ez.  xxxvi.  10,  11. 

9.  I  will  sow  them,  &c.  The  words  are  understood  to  mean, 
I  will  spread  them  abroad  among  the  peoples,  not  for  their 
destruction,  but,  like  seeds  scattered  broad-cast  in  the  earth,  for 
their  multiplication.  But  the  context,  which  on  both  sides  {vv. 
6,  8,  10)  speaks  of  Ephraim's  return  from  exile,  does  not  favour 
this  interpretation  ;  and  in  Hos.  ii.  23,  Jer.  xxxi.  27,  which  have 
been  quoted  in  support  of  it,  the  expressions  used  are  different. 
Probably  we  should  read  (We.,  Now.)  'And  though  I  scattered 
them  (□'itH''  for  cri'ixi)  among  the  peoples,  yet  in  far  countries 
shall  they  "remember  me,'  i.e.  ■  Ez.  xx.  43,  xxxvi.  31)  think  of 
me,  and  turn  to  me  in  penitence. 


250  ZECHARIAH  10.  lo,  n.     A' 

remember  me  irt  far  countries:  and  they  shall  live  with 

10  their  children,  and  shall  return.     I  will  bring  them  again 

also  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  gather  them  out  of 

Assyria ;  and  I  will  bring  them  into  the  land  of  Gilead 

and  Lebanon ;  and  place  shall  not  be  found  for  them. 

[  T  And  he  shall  pass  thTough  the  sea  of  affliction,  and  shall 

smite  ''^the  waves   in  the  sea,  and    all   the  depths  of 

the  Nile  shall  dry  up :   and  the  pride  of  Assyria  shall 

*  Or,  the  sea  of  waves 

live  witli.      Rather,  with  a  change  of  points,  nourish  up 
(2  S.  xii.  3),  preserve  alive  (Gen.  xlvii.  25),  no  longer  lose  them, 
and  return.     Viz.  to  their  own  land. 

10.  The  reference  is  still  to  the  ten  tribes  {v.  7)  ;  and  so  Egypt 
and  Assyria,  not  Babylonia,  are  spoken  of  as  the  places  of  exile 
(cf.  Hos.  ix.  3,  6,  xi.  11).  As,  however,  mv.  11  'Assyria  '  is  the 
name  not  of  a  country,  but  of  a  power  or  people,  there  may  be  at 
the  same  time  a  reference  to  the  Egypt  of  the  Ptolemies,  and  to 
the  Syrian  empire  of  the  Seleucidae,  represented  by  '  Assj'ria  ' 
(cf.  p.  231). 

ag'aiu.     Better,  back ;  cf.  on  v.  6. 

Gilead  and  Lebanon.  Mentioned  as  representing  the  terri- 
tory, on  the  E.  and  W.  of  Jordan  respectively,  possessed  formerly 
by  the  ten  tribes.     Cf.  Mic.  vii.  14  ;  Jer.  1.  19. 

place  shall  not  be  found  for  them.  So  numerous  will  the 
restored  Israelites  be.  Cf.,  for  this  trait  in  the  ideal  future,  Is. 
xxvi.  15,  xxxiii.  17,  xlix.  20,  liv.  3,  Obad.  19  f. 

11.  And  he — i.e.  Yahweh,  as  Ephraim's  leader  (Ex.  xiv.  19  f., 
cf.  Mic.  ii.  13 '')— shall  pass  through  the  sea  (of)  straitness 
',the  sea,  which  threatens  to  leave  no  passage  wide  enough  for 
the  returning  exiles  to  pass  through),  and  he  will  smite  the  sea 
(of)  waves  (so  that  a  path  is  made  through  them,  with  allusion  to 
Ex.  xiv.  16,  21  f.).  The  imagery  is  borrowed  from  the  account 
of  the  passage  of  the  Red  Sea,  and  generalized  :  whatever  rivers 
or  seas  impede  the  progress  of  the  returning  exiles  will  be 
smitten  by  Yahweh,  and  dried  up  (cf.  Is.  xi.  15).  as  of  old  He 
smote  and  dried  up  the  waters  of  the  Red  Sea  :  '  Assyria,'  and 
Egypt,  alike  powerless  to  arrest  the  return  of  the  exiles,  will  thus 
both  be  humbled.  But  the  expression,  'the  sea,  straitness,'  is 
a  strange  one  ;  and  it  is  quite  possible  that  we  should  read  for  it 
(with  We.,  Now.,  Marti)  *  the  sea  of  Egypt'  (an:^'n  D'  for  mu  c^  : 
so  Is.  xi.  15). 

the  pride  of  Assyria.     Cf.  Is.  x.  8f.,  12,  13  f. 


ZECHARIAH  10.  12— 11.  2.     A^  A-  251 

be  brought  down,  and  the  sceptre  of  Egypt  shall  depart 
away.    And  I  will  strengthen  them  in  the  Lord  ;  and  they  1 2 
shall  walk  up  and  down  in  his  name,  saith  the  Lord. 

[A*^]  Open  thy  doors,  O  Lebanon,  that  the  fire  may  11 
devour  thy  cedars.     Howl,  O  fir  tree,  for  the  cedar  is  2 


sceptre.  Or,  rod,  the  emblem  of  oppression  (Is.  ix.  4,  xiv.  29). 
12.  The  prophet  returns  to  the  thought  of  z^.  6. 

I  will  grive  them  migfht  {v.  6)  by  Yaiiweh.  Emphatic  for 
'by  myself  ;  cf.  Hos.  i.  7.  But  the  change  of  person  is  awkward  : 
read  prob.,  with  other  points,  '  their  might  shall  be  in  Yahweh.' 

walk  up  and  down  in  iiis  name  :  i.  e.  behave  (Ps.  xxxv,  14) 
as  if  acting  in  His  authority.  But  LXX,  Pesh.  have  the  more 
forcible  and  probable  reading  (We.,  Now.,  Smith,  Marti),  'and  in 
his  name  shall  they  make  their  boast'  ■  Vr'-n;,'  for  i^Trrp),  Ps.  xxxiv. 
2,  and  especially  cv,  3  (where  the  same  verb  is  rendered  '  glor^' '}. 

xi.  1-3.  A  fire  devours  the  cedars  of  Lebanon  ;  the  oaks  of 
Bashan  will  soon  share  the  same  fate  :  shepherds  bewail  their 
desolated  pastures,  and  lions  roar  because  their  lairs  by  the  Jordan 
are  destroj^ed.  What  the  meaning  of  this  is,  is  uncertain.  It  may 
mean  merely  that  the  way  will  shortly  be  open  for  an  invader  to 
advance  from  the  north,  and  penetrate  into  Judah  (so  Wright) : 
but  the  description  is  usually  understood  in  a  symbolical  sense,  the 
cedars  and  oaks,  the  shepherds  and  the  lions,  representing  either 
(Hitz.,  Ew.)  the  rulers  of  Israel,  or  (We.,  Now..  Marti,  Kp.)  the 
rulers  of  the  nations, — in  Kirkp.'s  words, '  the  rulers  and  potentates 
of  the  nations  are  swept  down  by  the  storm  of  war.  The  rulers 
are  heard  lamenting  the  loss  of  their  magnificence  :  the  potentates 
mourning  for  the  destruction  of  their  strongholds.'  It  is  also 
disputed  whether  the  verses  form  the  close  of  x.  3-12  (We.,  Now., 
Marti  u  or  the  introduction  to  xi.  4-17  (Hitz.,  Ew.,  Wright,  Kp.), 
or  are  an  independent  prophecy  by  themselves  (Smith").  But  x.  12 
seems  a  natural  close ;  and  the  context  speaks  not  of  an  invasion 
of  Israel,  but  of  Israel's  deliverance  from  tyrannical  rulers ;  so, 
though  it  is  impossible  to  feel  entire  confidence  in  any  view,  the 
verses  may  perhaps  be  meant  as  a  symbolical  description  of  the  ruin 
of  nations  declared  in  xi.  6  to  be  approaching  (Kp.). 

1.  Lebanon  is  bidden  poetically  open  its  doors,  in  order  that  the 
enemy  may  enter  in,  and  fire  its  cedars. 

2.  Howl,  O  fir  tree,  See.  When  the  'cedar'  is  'fallen,'  the 
smaller  '  fir  tree '  may  'howl" ;  for  the  same  fate  will  now  assuredly 
befall  it. 

g-oodly.     Better,  noble,  glorious:  of  a  cedar,  as  Fz.  xvii,  23. 


252  ZECHARIAH  11.  3,4.     A« 

fallen,  because  the  ^  goodly  ones  are  spoiled  :  howl,  O  ye 
oaks  of  Bashan,  for  the  ^strong  forest  is  come  down, 

3  A  voice  of  the  howling  of  the  shepherds  !  for  their  glory 
is  spoiled :  a  voice  of  the  roaring  of  young  lions !  for 
the  pride  of  Jordan  is  spoiled. 

4  Thus  said  the  Lord  my  God:    Feed  the  flock  of 

*  Or,  glorious  ^  Or,  defenced 

oaks  of  Bashan.  The  oaks  of  Bashan  ai*e  alluded  to  elsewhere 
in  the  O.  T.  (e.  g.  Is.  ii.  13)  :  there  are  still  forests  of  them  on  the 
slopes  of  Jebel  Hauran,  about  60  miles  E.  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee. 

strongr.  Rather,  inaccessible,  with  reference  no  doubt  to 
the  steep  mountain  sides,  up  which  alone  the  cedars  of  Lebanon 
could  be  reached.  The  Hebrew  is  lit.  cut  off',  and  is  the  word 
used  regularly  of  what  we,  from  a  diflfei-ent  point  of  view,  describe 
as  a  'fortified'  city  EVV.  'fenced,'  or  'defenced':  cf.  RVm. 
here),  properly  one  cut  off^  and  so  maccessible  to  assailants. 

is  come  down :  i.  e.  is  felled  ;  cf.  Is.  xxxii.  19*. 
3.  Hark !  the  howlin^T  of  the  shepherds,  for  their  gflory, — 
cognate  with  the  word  corrected  to  'glorious'  in  v.  2, — is  laid 
waste  :  i.  e.  their  broad  and  noble  pasture  lands.  Cf.  Jer.  xxv.  36 
'  Hark !  the  cry  of  the  shepherds,  and  the  howling  of  the  noble 
ones  of  the  flock  (fig.  for  the  ruling  men  of  Judah) ;  for  Yahweh  is 
laying  waste  their  pasture.' 

Hark !  the  roaring  of  the  yonugr  lions :  for  the  pride  of 
Jordan  is  laid  waste.  The  banks  of  the  Jordan,  especially  in  its 
lower  course,  are  fringed  b3'  a  thick  growth  of  sub-tropical  trees 
and  shrubs,  which  was  anciently  the  haunt  of  lions  ;  and  this  was 
called  the  pnde  of  Jordan  :  see  Jer.  xii.  5  (where  its  dangers,  as  a 
region  infested  by  wild  beasts,  are  alluded  to),  xlix.  19  =  1.  44 
(where  Nebuchadnezzar  is  compared  to  a  '  lion '  coming  up  out  of 
it).  Here  the  young  lions  are  represented  as  roaring,  because  their 
lair  has  been  laid  waste  by  the  invader. 

xi.  4-17.     The  people's  rejection  of  the  good  shepherd.     The 
substitution  of  a  worthless  shepherd,  and  its  consequences  for 
them.     Israel  has  been  the  prey  of  selfish  shepherds  (i.e.  rulers) 
who  have  made  traffic  of  it  ruthlessly  ;  and  the  prophet  describes 
what,  under  these  circumstances,  he  has  done  by  Divine  direction. 
First  he  enacted  the  part  of  a  good  shepherd,  who  rescued  his 
flock  from  its  oppressors,  and  took  measures  to  secure  his  people's 
welfare  ;  then,  being  rejected  by  his  people,  in  order  to  mark  the  • 
consequences  which  will  follow,  he  assumes  the  character  of  r  1 
worthless  shepherd,  who  will  make  havoc  of  the  people  for  his  : 
own  advantasfe,  but  who  will  eventually  meet  with  a  just  retribution.  , 


ZECHARIAH   11.  4.     A'^  253 

The  sequel  follows  in  xiii.  7-9.  The  prophets  were  in  the  habit 
sometimes  of  making  their  preaching  more  effective  by  embodying 
it  in  accompanying  symbolical  acts  (Is.  xx  ;  Jer.  xiii.  1-14,  xix. 
1-17  ;  Ez.  xii.  1-16)  ;  and  here  by  this  means  'the  history  is 
presented  in  living  figures,  and  at  the  same  time  the  Divine  judge- 
ment pronounced  upon  the  persons  represented'  (Marti).  In  the 
present  instance,  however,  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  the  prophet 
could  not,  any  more  than  Jeremiah  in  Jer.  xxv.  15  ff.,  have 
actually  enacted  the  actions  narrated  ;  he  can  only  be  describing 
what  was  in  reality  transacted  either  in  imagination  or  in  a  vision. 
The  prophecy  is  the  most  enigmatic  in  the  Old  Testament.  It 
is  obviously  an  allegory,  the  imagery,  like  that  of  x.  3,  being 
based  upon  Jer.  xxiii.  1-4,  Ez.  xxxiv,  in  both  of  which  passages 
it  is  taught  how  Yahweh  will  overthrow  Israel's  unworthy 
shepherds,  and  appoint  in  their  place  one  or  more  true  shepherds 
(Jer.  xxiii.  4;  Ez.  xxxiv.  23  ff.,  cf.  xxxvii.  24).  The  meaning  of 
the  allegory  is,  however,  obscure  :  it  is  neither  interpreted,  nor 
apparent,  as  in  the  case  of  the  allegories  in  Ez.  xvii,  xix,  xxiii. 
Very  few  particulars  of  the  internal  history  of  the  Jews  from  the 
time  of  Nehemiah  (432  b.  c.)  to  c.  175  b.  c,  when  Antiochus 
Epiphanes  began  his  reign,  have  been  handed  down  to  us  :  if  our 
information  were  fuller,  we  might  perhaps  find  that,  at  least  as  far 
as  V.  14,  perhaps  as  far  as  v.  16,  it  described  in  a  symbolical  form, 
with  the  view  of  drawing  out  the  lessons  which  they  taught, 
events  which  had  actually  happened.  Or  it  may  be  that  the 
prophet  founds  his  allegory  upon  historical  facts,  but  does  not 
reproduce  them  exactly  :  upon  the  basis  of  such  facts  as  that 
Israel  was  a  prey  of  foreign  despots,  was  neglected  by  its  own 
rulers,  and  despised  all  wiser  counsellors,  he  may  have  drawn  an 
emblematic  picture  of  the  evil  results  which  the  rejection  of 
Yahweh's  counsellors  would  entail.  The  'traffickers  of  the 
sheep '  might  be  either  the  generals  of  Alexander,  who  after  his 
death  contended  for  the  possession  of  Coele-Syria  and  Palestine 
(p.  231);  or  their  successors  on  the  throne  of  Egypt  or  Antioch, 
the  Ptolemies  or  the  Seleucidae,  both  of  whom  valued  Palestine 
chiefly  as  a  source  of  revenue  ^ :  the  *  shepherds '  seem  to  be  the 

^  As  shown  above  (pp.  231  f.),  between  323  and  301  B.  c.  Palestine 
repeatedly  changed  hands  :  from  301  it  continued  for  many  years  in 
the  undisturbed  possession  of  the  Ptolemies  ;  but  Antiochus  the  Great 
(223-187)  made  strenuous  efforts  to  gain  possession  of  it :  in  217  he 
invaded  it  with  a  large  army,  but  was  defeated  by  Ptolemy  Philopator 
at  Raphia,  on  the  border  of  Egypt,  and  obliged  to  retire ;  in  202  he 
again  occupied  it  temporarily,  taking  possession  of  Jerusalem  :  in 
198  by  his  victory  over  Ptolemy  Epiphanes,  at  Paneion,  near  the 
sources  of  the  Jordan,  he  finally  secured  it  for  Syria.  Cf.  the  writer's 
Daniel  (in  the  Ca7nbridge  Bible),  pp.  xxxiv-xxxvil,  iCC-173. 


354  ZECHARIAH  11.  4.     A« 

native  rulers,  primarily  the  high-priests  (see  xiii.  7),  who  in 
post-exilic  times  wielded  the  chief  power  in  the  state,  though 
others  in  authority  at  the  time  are  perhaps  included  :  three  of 
these  ^,v.  8)  may  have  been  suddenly  overthrown. 

Attempts  have  been  made  to  fix  the  allusions  more  definitely. 
By  those  who  (see  p.  230)  consider  the  prophecy  to  be  pre-exilic, 
the  '  three  shepherds '  are  generally  supposed  to  be  Zechariah, 
Shallum  (2  K,  xv.  8,  13),  and  some  third  usurper,  not  mentioned 
in  the  history,  of  the  same  time ;  a  common  and  ancient  interpreta- 
tion is  of  the  three  offices  of  king  (or  prince  ,  priest,  and  prophet, 
supposed  to  have  been  brought  to  an  end  either  at  the  time  of  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem  in  586,  or  by  the  death  of  Christ :  Keil 
thinks  of  the  rulers  of  the  three  world-monarchies,  the  Persians, 
the  Greeks,  and  the  Romans  ;  Stade  suggests  the  Assyrians, 
Babylonians,  and  Persians;  Dr.  Wright  (pp.  313,  316 f.)  explains 
the  passage  as  a  prediction  of  the  fall  of  the  three  Syrian  kings, 
the  foes  of  the  Jews,  Antiochus  Epiphanes  (b.  c.  175-164), 
Antiochus  Eupator  (164-162),  and  Demetrius  I  (162-150),  who 
all  met  their  death  within  a  period  of  thirty  years  (symbolized  by 
the  '■  one  month '  =  thirty  days)  :  Wellhausen  (thinking  the  passage 
to  be  ivfitten  between  b.  c.  200  and  166)  considers  the  allusion  to 
be  to  some  of  the  high-priests  who  at  that  time,  just  before  the 
Maccabean  rising,  followed  one  another  in  rapid  succession : 
Marti  thinks  definitely  of  Jason,  brother  of  the  legitimate  high- 
priest  Onias  III,  who  purchased  the  high-priesthood  from 
Antiochus  Epiphanes,  expelled  Onias  III,  and  became  after- 
wards the  leader  of  the  Hellenizing  party  in  Jerusalem  (b.  c.  174- 
171)  ;  Menelaus,  who,  outbidding  Jason,  secured  the  high-priest- 
hood for  himself  (b.  c.  171-164)  ;  and  Lysimachus,  brother  and 
deputy  of  Menelaus,  who  excited  the  hatred  of  the  populace  and 
was  killed  in  a  riot  (2  Mace,  iv-v,  xiii.  3-8), — the  'month'  being 
taken  generally  to  signify  a  short  time.  Marti  suggests  further 
that  the  worthless  shepherd  of  xi.  15-17  may  be  Alcimus,  the 
treacherous  and  unsatisfactory  high-priest  (b.c.  164-160),  appointed 
by  Demetrius  I  (i  Mace.  vii.  5-25,  ix.  i,  54-56).  Kirkpatrick,  on 
the  other  hand,  thinks  that  no  precise  meaning  need  be  attached 
to  the  expression  :  the  three  shepherds  are  '  a  part  of  the  furniture 
of  the  allegory,  and  their  removal  by  the  prophet  within  a  month 
is  intended  to  signify  God's  intention  to  deal  promptly  and 
cfTectually  with  the  oppressors  of  His  people,  whoever  they  may 
be.'  The  expression  does,  however,  t;eem  to  point  to  three 
definite  persons,  though  our  knowledge  of  the  history  does  not 
enable  us  to  say  who  they  are.  We  are  equally  unable  to  explain 
with  certainty  other  historical  allusions  in  the  prophecy.  In  xi. 
i5-i7»  xiii.  7,  however,  the  representation  may  be  purely  ideal : 
and  it  is  at  least  not  necessary  to  suppose  any  definite  person  to 
be  referred  to. 


ZECHARIAH  U.  5,  6.     A^  255 

slaughter ;  whose  ^  possessors  slay  them,  and  hold  them-  5 
selves  not  guilty ;  and  they  that  sell  them  say,  Blessed 
be  the  Lord,  for  I  am  rich :  and  ^  their  own  shepherds 
pity    them    not.      For   I    will    no   more    pity    the    in-  6 
'^  Or,  buyers  ^  Or,  iheiy  shepherd pitieth 

Wliatever,  however,  its  historical  occasion  may  have  been,  the 
general  teaching  of  the  prophecy  remains  sufficiently  distinct.  It 
teaches  the  consequences  which  may  follow  from  the  rejection  of 
God's  means  of  help.  "It  is  a  solemn  warning  of  the  way  in 
which  Divine  grace  may  be  frustrated  by  human  obstinacy.  The 
truth  which  it  conveys  had  been  abundantly  illustrated  in  the  past 
history  of  Israel.  It  was  to  receive  a  more  terrible  illustration  in 
the  subsequent  history  of  the  nation'  (Kirkp. ). 

4.  The  prophet  is  to  enact  the  part  of  the  ruler  after  God's  own 
heart. 

Thus  said.     Viz.  at  some  time  in  the  past. 

Shepherd  the  flock  of  slaughter :  i.  e.  the  flock  exposed 
to  slaughter,  as  explained  in  v.  5.  What  is  meant  appears  more 
clearly  from  v.  15  (where  'yet  again'  points  back  to  the  present 
verse) :  the  prophet  is  to  act  the  shepherd,  to  assume  the  garb 
and  accoutrements,  the  staff,  club,  scrip,  &c.  of  a  shepherd. 

5.  The  sheep  in  this  flock  are  done  to  death  by  buyers  and 
sellers  ;  and  receive  no  pity  even  from  their  own  shepherds. 
"Who  the  '  buyers  '  and  '  sellers '  are  is  uncertain  :  most  probably, 
perhaps,  some  of  the  Ptolemies  and  Seleucidae,  between  whom, 
after  b.  c.  323  pp.  231  f.,  253)  Israel  was  often  exchanged,  not  in- 
deed by  actual  barter,  but  by  the  issues  of  war,  undertaken  usually, 
on  each  side,  with  the  hope  of  some  gain.  Or  the  '  sellers,'  as  they 
use  the  name  Yahweh,  may  be  unpatriotic  native  leaders,  who 
played  into  the  hands  of  the  foreign  '  buyers.'  The  shepherds 
are  seemingly  the  r-'tive  rulers,  probably  the  high-priests,  with 
those  who  assisted  them  in  the  management  of  the  state. 

possessors  :  better,  "buyers  (marg.),  as  the  context  shows. 

hold  themselves  not  groilty:  better,  are  not  held  guilty 
(Jer.  ii.  3  RV.',  i.e.  are  not  punished  for  it:  the  entire  clause 
is  thus  equivalent  to,  '  slay  them  with  impunity.' 

Blessed,  &c  An  exclamation,  implying  the  satisfaction  of 
the  sellers  at  the  good  price  which  they  have  obtained. 

their  own  shepherds,  &c.  RVm.  is  possible  grammatically, 
but  not  favoured  by  the  context  (cf.  v.  8). 

6.  The  verse  seems  to  be  parenthetic  {v.  7  continuing  v.  5)  ; 
and  to  give  a  second  reason  for  the  comma.nd  of  v.  4  :  this 
guidance  is  needed  for  Israel,  because  a  period  of  anarchy  is 
:oming  upon  the  earth. 


256  ZECHARIAH   11.  7.     A- 

habitants  of  the  land,  saith  the  Lord  :  but,  lo,  I  will 

deliver  the  men  every  one  into  his  neighbour's  hand, 

and  into  the  hand  of  his  king:   and  they  shall  smite 

the  land,  and  out  of  their  hand  I  will  not  deliver  them. 

So  I  fed  the  flock  of  slaughter,  verily  » the  poor  of  the 

flock.    And  I  took  unto  me  two  staves ;  the  one  I  called 

^  Beauty,  and  the  other  I  called  ^  Bands ;  and  I  fed  the 

''  Or,  the  most  miserable  of  sheep  ^  Or,  Graciousness 

*=  Ofj  Binders     Or,  Union 

the  land  (twice).  Rather,  the  earth  :  as  the  object  of  the 
command  in  v.  4  is  to  rescue  the  flock  (Israel)  from  its  cruel  rulers, 
the  land  of  Israel  can  hardly  be  referred  to.  For  '  his  neighbour ' 
(inrn)  the  parallelism  with  'his  king'  strongly  suggests  that  we 
should  read  'his  shepherd'  (nrwn)  :  the  meaning  will  then  be 
that  Yahweh  will  deliver  the  nations  to  the  ambition  and  caprice 
of  their  rulers.  As  Stade  remarks,  the  expression  would  well 
suit  the  period  c.  320-300  b.  c,  when  Alexander's  generals  were 
contending  for  the  possession  of  the  countries  conquered  by  him. 

will  deliver.     Heb.  ant  delivering,  of  the  imminent  future. 

smite.  Rather,  beat  to  pieces;  a  strong  word,  lised  of 
beating  to  pieces  an  image,  Dt.  ix.  21  ;  oi  beating  down  an  enemy, 
Nu.  xiv.  45  =  Dt.  i.  44  ;  cf.  2  Chr.  xv.  6  (read  beaten  for  broken). 

7.  verily,  &c.  RVm.  is  better  than  RV.,  for  the  context 
shows  that  the  reference  is  to  the  whole  flock,  and  not  merely  to 
a  part  of  it :  but  p:  nowhere  else  means  '  verily '  ;  and  most 
probably,  throwing  two  words  into  one,  we  should  read,  for  the 
traffickers  of  the  flock;;  the  prophet,  though  really  he  took  the 
sheep  away  from  their  merciless  owners,  says  ironically  that  he 
shepherded  them /or  them. 

And  I  took  unto  me  two  staves.  S5mibolizing  the  maxims 
of  government,  which  he  would  adopt  in  his  rule.  The  two 
*  staffs '  are  such  as  a  shepherd  still  uses  in  the  East,  a  short  '  rod  ' 
(or  rather,  'dub')  to  ward  off  wild  beasts,  &c.,  and  a  longer 
'staff*  to  lean  upon  in  walking.  Cf.  Ps.  xxiii.  4 ;  and  DB.,  s.  v. '  Rod.' 

Beauty.  An  extremely  bad  rendering  :  no^am  means 
pleasantness,  sweetness,  or  CRVm.)  graciousness :  see  Prov. 
iii.  17,  XV.  26,  xvi.  24  ;  and  of  Yahweh,  Ps.  xxvii.  4  (see  RVm.), 
xc.  17.  Cognate  words  in  Arabic  mean  *  favour.'  The  'gracious- 
ness *  was  shown  (see  v.  10)  in  the  means  taken  to  secure  Israel 
from  molestation  by  other  nations. 

Bands,  lit.  Binders.  The  other  principle  which  he  adopted 
was,  ill  a  word,  union. 


ZECHARIAH    ll.S-n.     A^  257 

flock.     And  I  cut  off  the  three  shepherds  in  one  month  :  ^^ 
for  my  soul  was  weary  of  them,  and  their  soul  also  loathed 
me.     Then  said  I,  I  will  not  feed  you :  that  that  dieth,  9 
let  it  die  :  and  -'that  that  is  to  be  cut  off,  let  it  be  cut  ofif ; 
and  let  them  which  are  left  eat  every  one  the  flesh  of 
another.    And  I  took  my  stafi*  Beauty,  and  cut  it  asunder,  10 
that  I  might  break  my  covenant  which  I  had  made  with 
all  the  peoples.     And  it  was  broken  in  that  day :  and  1 1 

*  Or,  that  that  is  lost,  let  it  be  lost 

8.  He  cut  off"  '  the  three '  pitiless  *  shepherds '  {v.  5)  in  '  one 
month.'  The  allusion  seems  to  be  to  some  incident  of  the  time, 
now  unknown  to  us.     See  the  note  above,  p.  354. 

one  month.  Perhaps  not  to  be  understood  literally,  but 
meaning  a  comparatively  short  time. 

and — not  '  for.'  which  is  an  illegitimate  paraphrase — Z  was 
impatient  with  them ;  lit.  viy  soul  was  short  with  them, — a  Heb. 
metaphor  for  to  be  impatient:  cf.  Nu.  xxi.  4  (RVm.),  and  with 
'spirit'  for  'soul,'  Mic.  ii.  7  (RVm.),  Job  xxi.  4  Heb. 

with  them.  I.e.  with  the  people,  as  is  clear  both  from  the 
preceding  'and,'  and  from  v.  9.  This  and  the  next  clause  describe  the 
failure  of  the  good  '  shepherd,'  personated  by  the  prophet,  in  his 
mission,  and  the  mutual  antipathy  which  sprang  up  between  him 
and  the  people,  even  after  he  had  removed  their  evil  rulers. 

9.  The  '  shepherd  '  accordingly  leaves  the  people  to  their  fate, 
that  dieth.     I.  e.  that  is  on  the  way  to  die. 

that  that  is  to  be  cut  off,  &c.  The  marg.  is  a  paraphrase  of 
the  more  lit.  rendering  of  the  text 

and  let  them  which  are  left,  &c.  I.  e.  let  them  destroy  one 
another  by  internecine  conflict. 

10.  The  people  thus  rejecting  his  rule,  the  prophet  breaks  his 
staff,  '  Graciousness,'  to  symbolize  that  Yahweh's  favour  towards 
them  was  at  an  end,  and  that  the  '  covenant '  which  he  had 
(metaphorically)  made  with  the  nations  that  they  should  not  molest 
Israel  was  now  annulled.  Though  the  expression  is  general 
{-all  the  peoples  "  \  the  peoples  whom  the  prophet  has  specially  in 
view  are  no  doubt  Israel's  neighbours,  tlie  Philistines.  Idumaeans, 
Samaritans,  Ammonites,  &c.,  who  in  the  post-exilic  period  often 
caused  Judah  serious  trouble.  For  the  fig.  application  of  the  idea 
of  a  'covenant,'  cf.  Hos.  ii.  18,  Ez.  xxxiv.  25,  Job  v.  23. 

11.  By  the  fact  that,  as  soon  as  the  staff  was  broken,  the 
'covenant'  of  peace  with  the  nations  ceased  likewise,  the  dealers 
of  the  sheep,  who  had  been  watching  closely  and  suspiciously  the 


258  ZECHARIAH    11.12,13.     A^ 

a  thus  ^the  poor  of  the  flock  that  gave  heed  unto  me 

1 2  knew  that  it  was  the  word  of  the  Lord.  And  I  said  unto 
them,  If  ye  think  good,  give  me  my  hire ;  and  if  not, 
forbear.     So  they  weighed  for  my  hire  thirty  pieces  of 

13  silver.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  me.  Cast  it  cunto  the 
potter,  the  goodly  price  that  I  was  prised  at  of  them.  And 

*  Or,  the  poor  of  the  flock  .  .  .  kntu)  of  a  truth 
^  Or,  the  most  miserable  of  sheep 

*  The  Syriac  reads,  into  the  treasury. 

prophet's    movements,    perceived    that    he   had    been   acting  as 
Yahweh's  agent. 

and  thus  the  poor  of  the  flock:  better  (see  on  v.  7),  the 
most  miserable  of  sheep.  But  probably  we  should  again  read 
(with  LXX  01'  yMvavaioi),  and  the  trafllckers  of  the  sheep  ("2V':3  for 
":!?  p,  p  here  being  as  unidiomatic  as  pb  in  v.  7). 

gave  heed  unto.  Or,  were  watchingf  (i  S.  i.  12 ;  Eccl.  xi.  4" 
Heb.). 

12-13.  The  prophet  now  asks  for  his  wages;  and  receives  from 
the  people  the  paltry  and  insulting  sum  of  thirty  shekels  of  silver, 
the  amount  fixed  in  the  'Book  of  the  Covenant'  as  the  compensation 
for  an  injured  slave  (Ex.  xxi.  32).  As  if  to  show  that  it  was 
Yahweh  Himself  (whose  representative  the  prophet  is)  whom  they 
paid  with  so  wretched  a  sum,  he  casts  it,  by  divine  command,  into 
the  Temple  treasury. 

12.  unto  them.     I.  e.  to  the  sheep  (people). 

Xf  ye  think  g-ood,  &c.  Implying  that  he  leaves  it  entirely  to 
them  to  determine  what  they  think  his  services  are  worth. 

weigrhed:  in  accordance  with  ancient  usage,  Gen.  xxiii.  16. 
I  K.  XX.  39  Heb.,  Jer.  xxxii.  9  al. 

pieces.  It  is  better  to  supply  '■  shekels.'  A  shekel  of  silver 
was  worth  probably  about  2s.  9^.  {DB.  iii.  420),  so  that  thirty 
shekels  would  equal  about  £0^  2s.  (>d. 

13.  Cast  it  into  the  treasury.  So  we  must  clearly  read,  with 
the  Pesh.  and  RVm.  ("iij\vrT  for  i^vn)  ;  notice  especially  '  infto) 
Yahweh's  house '  at  the  end  of  the  verse.  The  '  potter,'  by  those 
who  adhere  to  this  reading,  is  supposed  to  be  mentioned  as  one  of 
the  lowest  of  the  labouring  classes,  the  malier  of  the  commonest  and 
cheapest  of  vessels,  so  that  casting  to  the  potter  would  be  equivalent 
to  throwing  away  ;  but  this  explanation  is  very  far-fetched. 

the  g'oodly  price.  Better  (cf.  on  v.  2),  the  nohle  price.  Of 
course  the  expression  is  meant  sarcastically. 

that  1  was  prised  at.  We.,  Now.,  Marti  would  read,  that 
thou  wast  prised  at  (mp'  for  "mp^)  ;  but  as  the  prophet  represents 
Yahweh  the  sense  remains  substantially  the  same. 


ZECHARIAH  11.  14, 15.     A'^  259 

I  took  the  thirty  pieces  of  silver,  and  cast  them  »  unto  the 
potter,  in  the  house  of  the  Lord.     Then  I  cut  asunder  14 
mine  other  staff,  even  Bands,  that  I  might  break  the 
brotherhood  between  Judah  and  Israel. 

And  the  Lord  said  unto  me,  Take  unto  thee  yet  again  15 
*  The  Syriac  reads,  into  the  treasury. 


of  them.  A  weak  and  also  incorrect  rendering.  The  Heb. 
prep,  is  lit.  from  upon  (see  Lex.  p.  759  ^),  and  it  is  used  here 
pregnantly,  '  that  I  was  prised  at  (and  dismissed)  from  them.' 

and  cast  tliexn,  &c.  Render,  in  the  order  of  the  Heb.,  and 
as  before  with  the  Syriac,  and  cast  them  into  Yahweh's  house, 
into  the  treasury.     For  '  cast,'  cf.  2  Chr.  xxiv.  10. 

Verse  13  is  quoted  (with  variations  from  both  the  Heb.  and  the 
LXX)  in  Mt.  xxvii.  gf.  (cf.  also  v.  12^  with  Mt.  xxvi.  is**)  ;  and 
applied  to  the  purchase  of  the  potter's  field  with  the  money 
returned  by  Judas.  Clearly,  however,  the  context  contains  no 
reference  to  the  future  Messiah  :  so  that  cannot  be  the  original 
intention  of  the  passage.  The  Evangelist  follows  the  exegetical 
methods  current  among  the  Jews  of  his  time  (cf.  Mt.  ii.  15,  18  ; 
and  on  ch.  xiii.  7).     See  further,  p.  282. 

14.  The  prophet  now  breaks  his  second  staff,  *  Union,'  to 
signify  that  the  brotherhood  between  Judah  and  Israel  was 
broken.  By  breaking  both  his  staffs  he  shows  that  he  will  have 
nothing  more  to  do  with  the  ungrateful  people  :  he  leaves  them 
to  their  fate.  And  what  have  they  to  expect,  when  friendly 
relations  with  their  neighbours  are  at  an  end  {v.  10),  and  there 
is  no  longer  any  unity  among  themselves  ? 

and  Israel.  The  mention  of  Israel  is  remarkable,  as  the 
reference  is  not,  as  ix.  10,  13,  x.  6,  7,  to  an  ideal  future,  but,  as  it 
seems,  to  the  prophet's  owm  time.  If  the  text  is  correct,  it 
seems  that  the  growth  of  party-factions  in  the  present  must  be 
represented  (cf.  Keil)  as  a  revival  of  the  ancient  rivalries 
between  the  N.  and  S.  kingdoms.  Wellh.  conjectured  that 
'Israel'  was  an  error  for  'Jerusalem,'  comparing  xii.  2ff. 
and  xiv.  14,  which  testify  to  the  existence  of  antagonisms  between 
the  capital  and  the  province  of  Judah  in  post-exilic  times  ;  and,  as 
Nowack  has  pointed  out,  '  Jerusalem  '  is  actually  read  by  two  MSS. 
of  the  LXX  (according  to  Field,  belonging  to  Lucian's  recension). 
It  is  quite  possible  that  this  is  the  correct  reading. 

15-17.  The  prophet  is  now  directed  to  personate  the  '  foolish 
shepherd,'  who,  as  the  people  have  rejected  the  good  shepherd, 
will  be  raised  up  over  them,  and  who  will  neglect  the  flock,  or 
only  use  it  for  his  own  purposes,  though  in  the  end  a  just  retri- 

S    2 


26o  ZECHARIAH  11.  i6,  17.     A= 

r6  the  instruments  of  a  foolish  shepherd.  For,  lo,  I  will 
raise  up  a  shepherd  in  the  land,  which  shall  not  ^  visit 
those  that  be  ^  cut  off,  neither  shall  seek  c  those  that  be 
scattered,  nor  heal  that  that  is  broken ;  neither  shall  he 
feed  that  which  '^  is  sound,  but  he  shall  eat  the  flesh  of 

1 1  the  fat,  and  shall  tear  their  hoofs  in  pieces.  Woe  to  the 
worthless  shepherd  that  leaveth  the  flock !  the  sword  shall 

*  Or,  miss  ^  Or,  lost  '^  Or,  the  young 

<^  Heb.  sfandeth. 

bution  will  overtake  him.     To  judge  from  xiii.  7,   the  '  foolish 
shepherd  '  is  pictured  as  a  high-priest. 

15.  the  instrnments.  I.e.  garb  and  accoutrements,  rod,  club, 
scrip,  &c.,  which  in  the  present  case  must  be  pictured  as  worn  out 
and  useless.  The  word  (^b:)  is  a  general  one  for  articles  of 
furniture  or  dress,  armour,  utensils,  implements,  &c. 

16.  visit.  I.e.  look  after  (Jer.  xxiii.  2,  also  of  sheep),  which,  if 
a  thing  is  destroyed  or  lost,  is  equivalent  to  miss  (RVm.)  :  of. 
I  S.  XXV.  7,  21  ;  Jer.  iii.  16  RVm.  For  the  picture  of  the  bad 
shepherd,  cf.  Ez.  xxxiv.  4.     On  RVm.  lost,  see  on  v.  9. 

those  that  be  scattered.  Something  of  this  sort  is  no  doubt 
intended  (LXX,  to  kafcopntafxevoi',  Jer.  disperstitn),  though  it 
cannot  be  extracted  from  the  existing  text.  Perhaps  we  ought 
to  read  nnn^n  that  which  is  driven  away  (Now.)  for  "\:*:n,  as  in 
Mic.  iv.  6,  Zeph.  iii.  19,  Ez.  xxxiv.  4,  16 ;  or  n"vnrin  that  which 
is  lacking  (which  would  more  nearly  resemble  -iv':n).  RVm.  (  =  AV.) 
is  quite  out  of  the  question  :  the  word  might  mean  the yotmg  man 
(or  inc7i),  but  it  is  never  used  of  the  young  of  animals. 

broken.    I.  e.  wounded  :  see  Ex.  xxii.  9  ;  Ez.  xxxiv.  4,  16. 

feed.  Better,  sustain,  nourish  (i  K.  xvii.  4,  9).  Not  the 
word  rendered  ^^rf  (properly  'shepherd  ')  in  vv.  4,  7,  9. 

eat  the  flesh,  &c.  :  instead  of  caring  for  the  sheep,  preying 
upon  them  for  his  own  benefit  ;  cf.  Ez   xxxiv.  2,  3, 

tear  their  hoofs  in  pieces.  Either  fEw.,  Hi.)  by  driving 
the  sheep  cruelly  over  stony  places  ;  or  (Keil"!  devouring  their 
very  hoofs  in  his  voracity. 

17.  The  sentence  on  the  foolish  shepherd. 
Woe  to.    Better,  Ah  I    (Nah.  iii.  i). 

the  wortMess  shepherd  :  lit.  the  shepherd  of  nothingness  ;  cf. 
the  same  Heb.  in  Job  xiii.  4  '  phj'sicians  of  no  volue.^ 

that  leaveth  the  flock.     Cf.  John  x.  12. 
The  sequel  to  this  prophecy  follows  in   xiii.  7-9,  where  see 
the  notes. 


ZECHARIAH  U>.  I,  2.     A- A''  261 

be  upon  his  arm,  and  upon  his  right  eye :  his  arm  shall 
be  clean  dried  up,  and  his  right  eye  shall  be  utterly 
darkened. 

The  » burden  of  the  word  of  the  Lord  concerning  12 
Israel. 

[A^]  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  which  stretcheth  forth  the 
heavens,  and  layeth  the  foundation  of  the  earth,  and 
formeth  the  spirit  of  man  within  him  :  Behold,  I  will  make  2 
Jerusalem  a  cup  of  reeling  unto  all  the  peoples  round 

*  Or,  oracle 

xii.  1 — aciii.  6,  xiv.  The  deliverance  and  glorious  future  of 
Jerusalem.  The  prophecy,  like  ix-xi,  xiii,  7-9,  will  belong  to  the 
Greek  period,  but  its  exact  date  in  it  is  uncertain. 

(i)  xii.  1 — xiii.  6.  The  deliverance  of  Jerusalem  from  the 
attack  of  the  heathen,  its  penitence  for  a  great  national  crime,  and 
its  purification  from  all  sin  and  uncleanness. 

xii.  1-9.  The  prophet  sees  an  assembly  of  nations,  including 
Judah,  advancing  against  Jerusalem  {w.  1-3)  ;  but  their  forces 
are  smitten  vvitli  a  sudden  panic  (v.  4),  and  the  chieftains  of 
Judah,  perceiving  that  Yahweh  fights  for  Jerusalem,  turn  their 
arms  against  the  other  nations  (v.  5  f.)  :  the  men  of  Judah  are 
first  victorious,  and  then  they  assist  in  saving  the  capital  {vv.  7-9;. 
The  earlier  prophets  spoke  of  the  actual  nations,  the  Assyrians 
or  Babylonians,  who  were  hostile  to  Israel :  the  thought  of  an 
imagined  attack  of  hostile  nations  in  the  future  is  an  eschatological 
trait,  suggested  probably  by  Ez.  xxxviii-xxxix  (cf.  pp.  233,  235). 

1.  Tlie  oracle  of  Yahweh's  word,  &c.     See  on  ix.  i. 

Thus  saith  Yahweh.  One  of  the  very  few  cases  in  which  the 
prophetical  formula,  mn"'  0X3  (properly  '('tisj  Yahweh's  whisper'}, 
instead  of  being  thrown  in  parenthetically,  precedes  the  words 
spoken  (Is.  Ivi.  8  ;  Ps.  ex.  i). 

which  stretcheth  forth,  &c.  The  epithets  point  to  Yahweh 
as  all-powerful,  and  therefore  as  able  to  bring  about  the  events- 
here  foretold.     Cf.  Is.  xiii.  5,  xliv,  24. 

2.  1  am  makingf :  i.  e.  am  about  to  make  ;  see  on  Nah.  ii.  2. 

a  cup  of  reeling".  Better,  a  bowl  (Ex.  xii.  22  '  bason  ')  of 
reeling" :  Jerusalem  is  figured  as  a  vast  bowl,  large  enough  for 
many  to  drink  from  at  once  :  the  nations  gather  round  it  eager  to 
taste  its  contents ;  but  the  draught  intoxicates  all  who  drink  it  and 
causes  them  to  reel,  or  stagger  back,  cohfused  and  discomfited. 
Jerusalem,  in  other  words,  is  represented  as  alluring  the  nations 
to  their  ruin.    Cf.  on  Nah.  Hi.  11,  Hab.  ii.  15.  t6,  where  the  same 


262  ZECHARIAH  12.  3,4-     A^ 

about,  and  '^upon  Judah  also  ^^  shall  it  be  in  the  siege 

3  against  Jerusalem.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day, 
that  I  will  make  Jerusalem  a  burdensome  stone  for  all  the 
peoples ;  all  that  burden  themselves  with  it  shall  be  sore 
wounded;    and  all   the   nations  of  the  earth  shall  be 

4  gathered  together  against  it.  In  that  day,  saith  the  Lord, 
I  will  smite  every  horse  with  astonishment,  and  his  rider 
with  madness:  and  I  will  open  mine  eyes  upon  the  house 

*  Or,  against  ^  Or,  shall  it  fall  to  be 

figure  of  intoxication  is  used  of  the  paralysing  effects  of  a  great 
calamity  upon  a  nation. 

the  peoples  round,  about.  I.  e.,  more  particularly,  Israel's 
neighbours,  the  Edomites,  Moabites,  Ammonites,  &c. 

and  upon  (or  ag-ainst)  Judah,  &c.  A  very  difficult  and 
uncertain  clause.  In  RV.  '  it '  is  best  taken  to  mean  (Keil)  what 
has  just  been  described  {v.  2*)  :  this  will  fall  upon  Judah  as  well 
as  upon  Jerusalem.  But  the  thought  is  not  expressed  at  all 
naturally.  RVm.  has  'and  upon  Judah  also  shall  it  fall  (to  bc\' 
&c.,  i.  e.  it  will  be  incumbent  upon  Judah,  Judah  also  will  be 
obhged  to  take  part  in  the  siege  against  Jerusalem.  This  would 
agree  with  the  sequel ;  but  the  absence  of  *  to  be  *  in  the  Heb,  is 
an  objection  to  it.  The  same  sense  would  be  better  obtained  by 
the  omission  (We.,  Now.,  Marti)  oCyj  ('  upon  '),  'And  Judah  also 
will  be  in  the  siege  against  Jerusalem,'  but,  as  Marti  points  out, 
i^HD2  n'rt  means  elsewhere  not  '  to  take  part  in  a  siege,'  but  '  to  be 
besieged'  (Ez.  iv.  3).  Marti  himself  cuts  the  knot  by  reading 
(partly  with  LXX),  'and  there  shall  be  a  siege  against  Jerusalem.' 

3.  a  hurdensome  stone.  A  stone  so  heavy  that  those  who 
attempt  to  lift  it  only  wound  and  lacerate  themselves  in  the  process. 
The  expression  may  be  borrowed  from  the  custom  which  Jerome 
says  prevailed  in  Palestine  in  his  time,  of  young  men  testing  their 
strength  against  one  another  by  the  height  they  were  able  to  lift 
(not  to  '  throw')  stones  of  great  weight. 

wounded.  Better,  lacerated.  The  word  occurs  besides  onl3' 
in  Lev.  xxi.  5,  where  it  is  used  of  making  tncisions  in  oneself,  or 
tattooing  oneself,  in  mourning. 

4-6.  Yahweh  strikes  with  a  panic  all  the  besiegers,  except 
Judah,  who,  perceiving  thus  that  God  is  on  the  side  of  Jerusalem, 
turns  to  her  help,  and  proceeds  to  attack  the  other  assailants. 

4.  will  smite  .  .  .  with  astonishment  .  .  .  with  madness  .  .  . 
with  blindness.     A  reminiscence  of  Dt.  xxviii.  28. 

open    mine    eyes    upon.      I.e.    regard    with    favour :    cf. 


ZECHARIAH  12.  5-7.     A«  263 

of  Judah,  and  will  smite  every  horse  of  the  peoples,  with 
blindness.  And  the  chieftains  of  Judah  shall  say  in  their  5 
heart,  The  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  are  my  strength  in 
the  Lord  of  hosts  their  God.  In  that  day  will  I  make  6 
the  chieftains  of  Judah  like  a  pan  of  fire  among  wood, 
and  like  a  torch  of  fire  among  sheaves ;  and  they  shall 
devour  all  the  peoples  round  about,  on  the  right  hand  and 
on  the  left :  and  Jerusalem  shall  yet  again  dwell  in  her 
own  place,  even  in  Jerusalem.    The  Lord  also  shall  save  7 

I    K.   viii.    29;    Jer.    xl.   4   (Heb.    M    will    set    my   eye   upon 
thee'). 

5.  Judah  will  thus  be  brought  to  recognize  that  Jerusalem, 
instead  of  being  its  foe,  is  in  reality  its  natural  ally,  and  a  source 
of  strength  to  it,  through  being  under  the  protection  of  its  God. 

the  chieftains.  More  exactly  (see  on  ix.  7),  the  clan-chiefs. 
We.,  Now.,  Marti  would  read  the  clans  ('cV^  for  'pVyt,  as  in  ix. 
7)  :  the  sense,  however,  remains  substantially  the  same  ;  for  the 
'  clan-chiefs '  are  naturally  regarded  as  representing  the  corre- 
sponding '  clans.' 

6.  Judah  now  destroys  the  other  assailants  :  they  are  as  power- 
less against  her  as  a  heap  of  faggots,  or  a  shock  of  corn,  against 
the  flames. 

the  chieftains.  As  before,  the  clan-chiefs.  Or,  making 
again  the  same  change  in  the  punctuation,  the  clans. 

shall  yet  ag-ain  dwell.  Or,  sit,  i.  e.  be  again  a  flourishing 
and  prosperous  city  :  see  on  ii.  4 ;  and  cf.  xiv.  10. 

even  in  Jerusalem.  There  is  no  '  even '  in  the  Heb.  ;  and 
*in  Jerusalem'  (which  is  unsuitable  after  "^  Jerusalem  shall  sit') 
is  doubtless  to  be  omitted,  with  nineteen  MSS.  of  LXX. 

7.  *  The  glory  of  the  victory  is  first  Judah's,  so  that  the  house 
of  David  may  not  ha>ie  too  much  fame,  or  boast  over  the  country 
districts.  The  writer  doubtless  alludes  to  some  temporary  schism 
between  the  capital  and  the  country  caused  by  the  arrogance  of 
the  former.  But  we  have  no  means  of  knowing  when  this  took 
place.  It  must  often  have  been  imminent  in  the  days  both  before 
and  especially  after  the  Exile,  when  Jerusalem  had  absorbed  all 
the  religious  privilege  and  influence  of  the  nation '  (G.  A.  Smith, 
pp.  478  f.)  \ 

^  We.,  Now.  regard  the  verse  as  an  interpolation,  dating  from  the 
Maccabaean  ag-e.     In  vv.  4,  6  Judah  Is  not  represented  as  being-  in 


264  ZECHARIAH   12.  8-io.     A^ 

the  tents  of  Judah  first,  that  the  glory  of  the  house  of 
David  and  the  glory  of  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  be 

S  not  magnified  above  Judah.  In  that  day  shall  the  Lord 
defend  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem ;  and  he  ^  that  is 
feeble  among  them  at  that  day  shall  be  as  David ;  and  the 
house  of  David  shall  be  as  God,  as  the  angel  of  the  Lord 

9  before  them.     And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day,  that 

I  will  seek  to  destroy  all  the  nations  that  come  against 

10  Jerusalem.     And  I  will  pour  upon  the  house  of  David, 

*  Or,  that  stumbleth 

the  house  of  David.  I.  e.  members  of  David's  family,  who  no 
doubt  took  a  prominent  and  influential  place  in  Jerusalem  in  post- 
exilic  times.  Cf.  vv.  8  (where  see  the  note),  lo,  12,  xiii.  i ;  Ezr. 
viii.  2  ;  I  Chr,  iii.  17-24. 

8.  The  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  will  be  supematurally  strength- 
ened to  overcome  the  foe. 

he  that  is  feeble.  Lit.  as  marg.,  he  that  sttinibleth,  he  who 
from  weakness  cannot  stand  firm  upon  his  feet :  cf.  i  S.  ii.  4, 
Ps.  cv.  37,2  Chr.  xxviii.  15,  Is.  xxxv.  3, — in  all  which  passages  the 
Heb.  verb  is  the  same  as  here. 

as  David.  Named  as  the  type  of  a  brave  and  dauntless 
warrior  (i  S.  xvii.  34  ff.  ;  3  S.  xvii.  8). 

the  house  of  David.  The  existing  representatives  of  the 
ancient  royal  house, — perhaps  (We.,  Now.)  used  here  in  an  en- 
larged sense  to  denote  the  government  generally  (cf.  Ps.  cxxii. 
5).  These  will  be  strengthened,  so  as  to  be  comparable  even  to 
God,  or  a  divine  being, — and  Yahwch^s  angel,  the  powerful  protector 
(Ps.  xxxiv.  7)  and  leader  of  His  people  (with  'before  them,'  cf. 
Gen.  xxiv.  7,  Ex.  xiv.  19,  xxiii.  20,  23,  xxxii.34).  With  the  com- 
parison to  Yahweh's  angel  in  general,  cf.  i  S.  xxix.  9,  2  S.  xiv.  17, 
20.  xix.  27. 

10-14.  After  this  triumph,  the  whole  nation,  every  family  by 
itself,  from  the  noblest  dov^mwards,  holds  a  great  lamentation  over 
a  martyr  '  whom  they  have  pierced.' 

10.  The  house  of  David  and   inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  is 

any  need  of  help  or  deliverance  j  on  the  contrary,  it  is  Judah  which 
delivers  Jerusalem.  The  representation,  however,  suits  the  situation 
in  the  Maccabaean  period,  when  the  deliverance  of  Jerusalem  and 
of  the  cities  of  Judaea  did  not  come  from  Jerusalem,  but  was  effected 
by  means  of  the  Maccabees  from  Modin  (i  Mace.  ii). 


ZECHARIAH    12.   lo.     A='  265 

and  upon  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  the  spirit  of  grace 

and  of  supplication ;  and  they  shall  look  unto  »  me  whom 

*  According  to  some  MSS.,  him. 


a  comprehensive  expression,  intended  to  include  the  entire  people, 
under  the  two  categories  of  the  rulers  and  the  ruled.  Upon  these 
Yahweh  will  then  pour  a  spirit  of  ^race  and  supplication  (or 
Sfrace-seekingr,  the  Heb.  word  being  cognate  with  that  for  -grace'), 
i.e.  a  spirit  eager  to  obtain  'grace'  or  favour,  and  impelling  to 
supplicate  for  it, — the  '  favour '  meant  here  being  forgiveness  for 
the  great  sin  which  they  have  committed.  •  Spirit,'  in  Heb.,  in 
passages  such  as  the  present,  signifies  an  impulse,  the  genitive 
following  denoting  its  character,  as  Nu.  v.  14  a  spirit  of  jealousy, 
Dt.  xxxiv,  9  of  wisdom.  Is.  xix.  14  of  perverseness,  xxviii.  6 
of  judgement,  xxix.  10  of  deep  sleep,  Hos.  iv.  12  of  whoredom. 
The  'spirit'  may  be  regarded  as  sent  from  Yahweh,  and  there- 
fore as  in  a  sense  Divine  ;  but  it  is  not  the  Divine  spirit,  even 
where  Yahweh  is  expressly  named  as  its  author,  as  Is.  xix.  14, 
xxix.  10  (where  it  is  used  in  a  bad  sense)  sufficiently  show.  For 
'  pour  out,'  cf.  Ez.  xxxix.  29  (of  Yahweh's  spirit  to  be  poured  out 
upon  Israel  in  the  future  after  its  deliverance  from  the  ideal  assault 
of  nations  under  Gog),  Joel  ii.  28-29. 

and  they  shall  look  upon  me,  whom  they  have  pierced. 
The  words  describe  the  effect  of  the  'spirit,'  eager  to  obtain 
Yahweh's  favour  and  forgiveness  :  they  will  look  upon  him  whom 
they  had  pierced,  with  grief  and  penitence.  The  passage  is,  how- 
ever, one  of  those  which  our  ignorance  of  the  circumstances  of  the 
time  makes  it  impossible  to  interpret  as  a  whole  satisfactorily  or 
completely.  As  the  text  stands,  the  speaker  must,  of  course,  be 
Yahweh,  and  it  is,  no  doubt,  perfectly  true  that  '  the  Jews  had 
pierced  Him  metaphorically  by  their  rebellion  and  ingratitude 
throughout  their  history.  They  pierced  Him,  literally  and  as  the 
crowning  act  of  their  contumacy,  in  the  Person  of  His  Son  upon 
the  Cross,  John  xix.  37 '  (T.  T.  Perowne).  But  these  considerations 
do  not  explain  the  passage  here.  However  true  in  themselves, 
and  however  remarkable  an  anticipation  of  the  literal  piercing  of 
Christ  the  words  may  be,  neither  the  Israelites'  rejection  of 
Yahweh  in  the  past,  nor  their  rejection  of  Christ  in  the  future, 
can  be  referred  to  here  ;  not  only  does  the  context  point  plainly 
to  some  historical  event  in  the  prophet's  own  time,  for  which  the 
people  would  eventually  ieel  the  sorrow  here  described  (vv.  io'»- 
14),  but  tlie  Jews,  as  a  nation  {vv.  12-14),  certainly  never  felt  any 
grief  or  remorse  for  the  death  of  Christ.  Accepting  the  text  as  it 
stands,  the  meaning  can  only  be  that,  in  the  murder  or  martyrdom 
referred  to,  Yahweh  had  been  thrust  through  in  the  person  of  His 
representative.       But   as    Kirkpatrick    remarks   ^p.   4681,    -The 


266  ZECHARIAH  12.  ii.     A^ 

they  have  pierced  :  and  they  shall  mourn  for  him,  as  one 
mourneth  for  his  only  son,  and  shall  be  in  bitterness  for 
him,  as  one  that  is  in  bitterness  for  his  firstborn.  In  that 
day  shall  there  be  a  great  mourning  in  Jerusalem,  as  the 


difficulty  of  the  text  is  very  great.  Could  the  prophet  have  spoken 
of  thrusting  Yahweh  through  ?  The  construction,  too,  excites 
suspicion.'  The  reading  of  the  marg.  (some  fifty  MSS.,  Ew., 
Smith)  implies  only  V7s  for  "'?«,  and  seems  required  by  the  following 
clause.  Even  so,  however,  the  Heb.  remains  peculiar  ^ ;  and  We., 
Now.,  Marti  conjecture  that  something  has  either  fallen  out,  or 
been  intentionally  omitted,  from  the  text  ('  and  they  shall  look 
unto  .  . .  whom  they  have  pierced').  But  whoever  the  martyr  or 
godly  counsellor  alluded  to  may  have  been,  his  rejection  by  the 
Jews  is  undoubtedly  a  striking  type  of  their  rejection  of  Christ 
afterwards  ^. 

and  they  shall  mourn  for  him,  as  one  mourneth,  &c.  A 
very  inadequate  rendering  :  we  may  '  mourn '  in  silent  grief,  but 
ICD  is  to  wail,  in  loud  and  passionate  grief.  Render,  and  they  shall 
wail  for  him,  as  one  waileth/or  an  only  son — mentioned  like  that 
for  the  firstborn  in  the  parallel  clause  as  an  instance  of  particularly 
poignant  and  bitter  grief.  Cf.  Am.  viii.  lo  (where  'mourning'  is 
correct),  Jer.  vi.  26  (where,  for  consistency,  lamentation  should  be 
wailing) ;  also,  for  '  wail,'  on  Zech.  vii.  5. 

11.     Render,  In  that  day  the  wailing  in  Jerusalem  shall  be 

^  The  n*<  before  ittX,  resuming  loosely  another  prep.  The 
construction  is  strange,  an^  against  analogy  ;  but  there  are  isolated 
parallels  in  Jer.  xxxviii.  9,  Ez.  xjv.  22*^,  xxxvii.  19*^. 

^  LXX,  misreading  "npi  as  npn  (leapt  or  danced),  have  the  strange 
rend,  koi  kiti^Kixpovrai  irpbs  fif,  dvO^  uv  (strictly  —  "it,"«  nnn,  but 
probably  here  a  loose  rend,  of  "ITTS  n«)  KaTOjpxnaavTo  '  because  they 
insulted*  (lit.  danced  down-,  see  Hdt.  iii.  151).  This  rendering 
was  early  discovered  to  be  faulty  ;  and  so  it  was  corrected  by  Aq., 
Symm.,  and  Theod.  (who  has  Kai  kiti^XiXpovTai  irpos  fie  els  ov  f^eKiv- 
TTjaav),  and  in  Lucian's  text  of  the  LXX  {(is  bv  k^eKevTijaav),  as 
also  in  the  version  followed  in  John  xix.  37  (orpuvrai  (is  bv  f^(K€v- 
TTjaav)  and  alluded  to  in  Rev.  i.  7  {tal  otf/erai  avrbv  rrds  d<p0a\n6s, 
Kal  diTLVis  avTov  k^fKevTTjaav,  Kol  Kuxpovrai  kii  avrov  irdcrai  at  <pv\ai 
T^s  7^s,  where  the  last  clause  koI  ko^ovtoi  k.t.X.  is  evidently  based 
upon  what  follows  here  in  Zech,,— in  LXX  koX  Koxpovrai  en  avrov, 
and  then  koi  KSif/frai  ij  yrj  Kara  <pvXa.s  0u\ds).  But  of  course  the 
application  made  of  an  O.  T.  passage  in  the  Revelation  is,  in  view 
of  the  way  in  which  reminiscences  of  the  O.  T.  are  woven  into  it,  no 
conclusive  evidence  as  to  its  original  reference  or  intention. 


ZECHARIAH  12.  n.     A^  267 

mourning  of  Hadadrimmon  in  the  valley  of  Megiddon. 

great,  like  the  wailing*  of\Qrfor\  Hadadrimmon  in  the  plain  of 
Megiddon.  It  is  obvious  that  some  occasion  of  great  public  lamenta- 
tion is  referred  to  ;  but  what  it  is,  is  uncertain.  The  name  '  Hadad- 
rimmon' does  not  occur  elsewhere  ;  but  so  far  as  the  form  goes  it 
might  be  that  of  either  (i)  a  place,  or  (2)  a  deity.  <  Hadad'  (also  in 
the  proper  names  Hadad,  Ben-hadad,  Hadadezer),  and  'Rimmon,' 
or  properly  Rammdn  (also  2  K.  v.  18  ;  in  Tab-rimmon,  i  K.  xv. 
18,  and  in  some  place-names,  cf.  ch.  xiv,  10),  were  respectively 
the  Syrian  and  Assyrian  names  of  the  same  deity,  the  god  of  rain, 
storm,  and  thunder  (see  DB.  *  Rimmon  ' ;  more  fully  Zimmern  in 
KAT.^  442S.)  :  hence,  (i)  'Rimmon'  being  originally  the  name 
of  a  place  where  this  deity  was  worshipped,  '  Hadad  of  Rimmon  ' 
(like  *  Baal  of  Peor  ')  might  have  come  to  be  the  fuller  name  of 
the  same  place  ;  or  (2)  *  Hadad-Rimmon '  may  have  been  in  use 
as  a  compound  name  of  the  deity  himself,  (i)  From  Targ.  and 
Pesh.  onwards  Hadadrimmon  has  commonly  been  taken  as  the 
name  of  the  place, — according  to  Jerome,  a  city  near  Jezreel  in  the 
plain  of  Megiddo, called  in  his  day  Maximianopolis,— at  which  Josiah 
was  bewailed  after  his  death  at  Megiddo  (2  K.  xxiii.  29  f.)  :  the 
Chronicler  also  tells  us  (2  Chr.  xxxv.  25)  that  dirges  (mi^)  ^^' 
memory  of  Josiah  were  recited  even  to  his  own  time  (c.  300-250 
B.C.).  Upon  this  view,  Hadadrimmon  has  been  identified  with 
Rummaneh,  a  place  about  four  miles  SSE.  of  Megiddo.  It  is, 
however,  very  doubtful  whether  this  explanation  is  correct :  Josiah, 
we  are  told,  after  his  death  was  carried  at  once  by  his  servants  to 
Jerusalem,  which  was  the  natural  place  for  the  public  lamentation 
in  his  honour  to  be  held  :  the  situation  of  Rummaneh  does  not 
suit  other  ancient  notices  of  Maximianopolis  (see  Buhl,  Geogr. 
p.  209)  ;  and  Jerome's  statement  is  open  to  the  suspicion  of  being 
based  upon  nothing  more  than  the  occurrence  of  the  same  ex- 
pression, Mn  the  plain  of  Megiddo,'  in  2  Chr.  xxxv.  22.  (2} 
'  Hadadrimmon  '  has  been  taken  by  various  recent  scholars  as  the 
name  of  a  deity.  There  was  a  Syrian  and  Phoenician  deity  called 
Tammuz,  known  to  the  Greeks  as  Adonis  ('lord'),  in  the  Greek 
legend  a  beautiful  youth,  killed  by  a  boar,  and  bitterly  bewailed 
by  his  spouse  Aphrodite,  in  whose  rites  lamentations  and  weeping 
played  a  pi'ominent  part  (see  Ez.  viii,  14).  Now,  as  both  Hadad  and 
Tammuz  were  worshipped  in  the  Phoenician  city  of  Byblus,  it  has 
been  conjectured  that  the  two  deities  may  have  been  amalgamated  or 
:onfused,  so  that  there  may  have  been  a '  wailing/o?-  Hadadrimmon, ' 
Analogous  to  that  for  Tammuz.  No  positive  confirmation  of  this 
:onjecture  has,  however,  as  yet  been  discovered.  See  further  the 
.^ull  discussion  by  Baudissin,  in  PRE.^  vii.  (1899),  s.v. 

Megiddon  :  on  the  SW.  edge  of  the  great  Plain  of  Esdraelon. 


268  ZECHARIAH   12.  12— 13.  2.     A' 

12  And  the  land  shall  mourn,  every  family  apart;  the  family 
of  the  house  of  David  apart,  and  their  wives  apart ;  the 
family  of  the  house  of  Nathan  apart,  and  their  wives 

13  apart;  the  family  of  the  house  of  Levi  apart,  and  their 
wives  apart ;  the  family  of  the  Shimeites  apart,  and  their 

14  wives  apart;  all  the  families  that  remain,  every  family 
apart,  and  their  wives  apart. 

13      In  that  day  there  shall  be  a  fountain  opened  to  the 

house  of  David  and  to  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  for 

2  sin  and  for  uncleanness.     And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in 

12-14.  The  wailing  will  be  universal,  but  not  confused  or  dis- 
orderly ;  every  family,  the  sexes  apart,  will  form  itself  into  a 
separate  group.  As  examples,  the  prophet  singles  out  the  kingly 
and  priestly  families  ;  and  at  the  same  time  takes  a  subordinate 
branch  in  each,  for  the  purpose  of  showing  how  the  wailing  is  to 
extend  to  every  subdivision  of  the  entire  nation. 

12.  shall  mourn.     Render  :  shall  wail. 

the  family  of  the  house  of  David.  The  family  comprising 
the  representatives  of  the  line  of  the  kings. 

the  family  of  the  house  of  Nathan.  Probably  the  son  of 
David,  mentioned  in  2  S.  v,  14  ;   i  Chr.  iii.  5,  xiv.  4;  Luke  iii.  31, 

13.  the  family  of  the  house  of  ]Levl.  I.  e.  the  main  priestly 
family  descended  from  Levi. 

the  family  of  Shimei.  Probably  a  subordinate  line,  which 
traced  its  descent  to  the  grandson  of  Levi  mentioned  in  Nu.  iii.  21. 

14.  All  other  families  in  the  land  will  do  similarly. 

xiii.  1-6.  Henceforth  a  fountain  for  purification  from  sin  is 
permanently  opened  in  Jerusalem  ;  and  all  idolatry  and  degraded 
prophecy  are  exterminated  from  the  land.  For  the  thought  of  the 
removal,  or  forgiveness,  of  sin  in  the  ideal  future  see  on  ch.  iii. 
9.  The  promise  of  v.  i  follows  suitably  upon  the  penitence 
described  in  xii.  10-14. 

1.  there  shall  be  .  .  .  opened.  Not  the  simple  future,  but  the 
substantive  verb  and  the  participle  (LXX  iarai  .  . .  havoi'^ofitvoi), 
implying  that  the  fountain  is  to  be  continuously  open. 

to  the  house  of  David,  &c.  I.  e.  to  the  entire  population  of 
Jerusalem :  cf.  on  xii.  10. 

for  sin:  cf.  Nu.  viii.  7  *  the  water  of  sin  '  (EVV.  of  expiation) . 

and  for  impurity.  The  Heb.  nidddh  is  a  technical  term  of 
the  Levitical  law,  used  especially  of  the  ceremonial  unclean- 
ness occasioned  by  menstruation.  Lev.  xii.  2,  xv.  19,  Ez.  xviii.  6, 
xjcii.  10,  x.^xvi.  17  [RV.  in  Ez.  wrongly  'separation'],  or  by  con- 


ZECHARIAH   13.  3-5.     A^  269 

that  day,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  that  I  will  cut  off  the 
names  of  the  idols  out  of  the  land,  and  they  shall  no  more 
be  remembered  :  and  also  I  will  cause  the  prophets  and 
the  unclean  spirit  to  pass  out  of  the  land.  And  it  shall  3 
come  to  pass  that,  when  any  shall  yet  prophesy,  then  his 
father  and  his  mother  that  begat  him  shall  say  unto  him. 
Thou  shalt  not  live ;  for  thou  speakest  lies  in  the  name  of 
the  Lord  :  and  his  father  and  his  mother  that  begat  him 
shall  thrust  him  through  when  he  prophesieth.  And  it  4 
shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day,  that  the  prophets  shall  be 
ashamed  every  one  of  his  vision,  when  he  prophesieth ; 
neither  shall  they  wear  a  hairy  mantle  to  deceive  :  but  he  5 

tact  with  a  corpse,  Nu.  xix.  9  [see  RVm.],  13,  20,  21,  xxxi.  23, 
and  occasionally  also  in  a  more  general  sense,  as  2  Chr.  xxix.  5 
[RV.  'filthiness'j,  Ezr.  ix.  11.  The  prophet,  on  the  ground,  no 
doubt,  of  the  ceremonial  lustrations  with  the  '  water  of  [i.  e.  for 
removing]  impurity,'  as  prescribed  in  Nu.  xix,  pictures  a  fountain 
in  Jerusalem,  providing  a  continuous  supply  of  water  for  the 
removal  of  all  impurity  from  the  people.     Cf.  Ez.  xxxvi.  25. 

2 4i.  The  effects  of  the  new  life,  thus  (v.  i)  infused  into  the 
community  :  the  cessation  of  idolatry  and  degraded  prophecy. 

2.  cut  off  .  .  .  remembered:  a  reminiscence  of  Hos.  ii.  17 
(RVm.). 

the  prophets.  In  general  :  not  merely  '  false '  prophets. 
Prophecy,  when  the  author  wrote,  must  have  become  degraded, 
and  prophets  must  have  been  either  (Wellh.)  public  demagogues, 
or  (G.  A.  Smith)  mere  professional  and  mercenary  oracle-mongers. 
The  author  himself  would  be  distinguished  from  such,  by  being 
a  writing  prophet,  perhaps  also  by  writing  anonymously. 

the  unclean  spirit.  Rather,  the  spirit  of  uncleanness,  i.  e. 
the  spirit,  or  impulse  (cf.  on  xii.  io>,  leading  men  to  it. 

3.  If  any  one  comes  forward  as  a  prophet,  his  own  parents  will 
be  prepared  not  merely  to  disown  him,  but  even  to  put  him  to 
death,  so  convinced  will  they  be  that  he  can  be  only  an  impostor. 
Cf.  Dt.  xiii.  6-10  (where,  if  any  one  attempts  to  seduce  his  country- 
men into  idolatry',  his  nearest  relations  are  to  be  the  first  to  come 
forward  and  stone  him  to  death),  xviii.  20  (death  to  be  the  punish- 
ment of  the  false  prqphet). 

4.  Even  the  prophets  themselves  will  be  ashamed  of  their 
visions,  and  will  hasten  to  give  up  such  a  discredited  profession. 

a  hairy  mantle.     A  *  mantle  '  was  the  distinctive  garb  of  a 


2  70  ZECHARIAH   13.  6.     A^ 

shall  say,  I  am  no  prophet,  I  am  a  tiller  of  the  ground ; 
6  for  I  have  been  made  a  bondman  from  my  youth.  And 
one  shall  say  unto  him,  What  are  these  wounds  between 
thine  *  arms  ?  Then  he  shall  answer,  Those  with  which 
I  was  wounded  in  the  house  of  my  ^  friends. 

*  Heb.  hands.  ^  Or,  lovers 


prophet  (i  K.  xix.  13,  19,  2  K.  ii.  8) ;  this  passage  and  a  K.  i.  8 
(RVm.)  sh6w  further  that  it  was  of  hair, — whether  a  sheep's  skin 
(LXX,  of  Elijah's  mantle,  fxrjXuTrj),  or  woven  of  camel's  hair,  like 
that  worn  by  John  the  Baptist  (Mt.  iii.  4).  Here  the  *  hairy 
mantle*  is  in  particular  a  mark  of  the  prophet  of  the  degraded 
professional  type  referred  to  above,  which  had  fallen  into  disrepute. 

5.  One  who  had  once  been  a  prophet  will  disclaim  his  profession, 
and  own  only  to  having  been  a  tiller  of  the  soil. 

for  Z  have  been  made  a  bondman.  Lit.  /or  man  has  made 
(others)  bi^iy  me  =  caused  me  to  be  bought, — a  singular  expression, 
which  occurs  nowhere  else.  Wellh.'s  clever  emendation  is  ex- 
tremely probable  :  forth.^  land  lias  been  my  possession  (':':p  noi*^ 
for  -::pn  ant*)/n)m  my  youth. 

6.  But  the  wounds  on  his  person  seem  to  contradict  his  claim  to 
be  a  mere  tiller  of  the  soil ;  so  he  has  to  own  that  they  are  the 
blows  which  he  received  from  his  friends,  when  they  went  about 
to  kill  him  (cf.  v.  3),  on  account  of  his  coming  forward  as  a,prophet. 

between  thine  bands  (RVm.).  A  peculiar  expression,  meaning, 
as  is  generally  supposed,  on  thy  breast  (cf.  'between  his  arms,'  i.e. 
on  his  back,  2  K.  ix.  24,  '  between  your  eyes,'  i.  e.  on  your  fore^ 
heads,  Dt.  xiv.  i),  or  possibly  (We.),  which  arc  before  thee,  which 
thou  canst  not  deny. 

friends.  The  Heb.  is  the  ptcp.  of  the  intensive  conjug.  (Piel), 
which  elsewhere  means  lovers  (RVm.\  or  paramours,  a  term  used 
by  Hosea  of  the  Baals  (Hos.  ii.  5,  7,  10,  12,  13),  and  by  other 
prophets  of  foreign  allies  (Jer.  xxii.  20,  22,  xxx.  14  rt/.),  whose 
favour  and  help  Israel  or  Judah  courted.  Hence  the  answer 
has  been  supposed  to  be  a  confession  by  the  prophet  of  former 
idolatries,  the  '  wounds '  being  those  which  were  self-inflicted  in 
the  service  of  the  false  gods  alluded  to  (cf.  i  K.  xviii.  28).  The 
passive,  was  smitten,  is  however  against  this  interpretation;  and  a 
reference  to  idolatry  is  foreign  to  the  context :  it  is  the  prophet  in 
general,  not  the  prophet  of  false  gods,  who  is  represented  in  the 
context  as  discredited.  It  seems,  therefore,  that  the  word  must 
here  denote  the  prophet's  'friends,'  who  sought  to  kill  him, for  the 
reason  stated  above. 


ZECHARIAH  13.  7,8.     A^  271 

[A^]  Awake,  O  sword,  against  my  shepherd,  and  against  7 
the  man  that  is  my  fellow,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts  :  smite 
the  shepherd,  and  the  sheep  shall  be  scattered ;  and  I  will 
turn  mine  hand  upon  the  little  ones.     And  it  shall  come  8 

7-9.  The  close  of  the  prophecy  xi.  4-17.  It  must  be  obvious 
that  the  passage  is  out  of  connexion  both  with  xiii.  1-6  and  with 
ch.  xiv,  whereas  it  is  connected  with  xi.  4-17  not  only  by  the 
figure  of  the  shepherd  and  the  flock,  but  also  by  the  fact  that  xi. 
15-17  supplies  the  reason  why  the  *  shepherd '  of  v.  7  is  to  be 
smitten,  which  conversely  appears  nowhere  either  in  ch.  xii  or  in 
xiii.  1-6.  Since  Ewald,  who  first  pointed  out  that  xiii,  7-9  supplied 
the  natural  close  to  xi.  4-17,  this  view  of  it  has  been  generally 
accepted  by  critical  commentators. 

The  passage  describes  the  ultimate  fate  of  the '  foolish  shepherd' 
of  xi.  15-17,  and  of  his  flock  :  the  '  shepherd  '  will  be  smitten, 
and  the  'stieep,'  who  had  rejected  (xi.  12-14)  the  ruler  after 
Yahweh's  own  heart,  will  be  scattered  :  but  a  portion  will  be  left 
in  the  land ;  and  these,  after  being  purified  by  severe  trials,  will 
form  the  nucleus  of  the  future  faithful  people  of  God. 
7.  The  sword  is  personified,  as  Jer,  xlvii.  6,  7. 

my  shepherd.  The  ^foolish  shepherd'  of  xi.  15-17,  called 
'Yahweh's  shepherd,'  in  so  far  as,  however  unworthy,  he  stands 
oflficially  at  the  head  of  Yahweh's  people. 

the  man  that  is  my  fellow.  The  high-priest.  The  titles  of 
honour  applied  to  the  '  foolish  shepherd  '  throw  into  the  greater 
relief  his  abuse  of  the  office  that  he  holds,  and  his  unfitness  for  it 
(xi.  16).  The  word  rendered  *  fellow '  is  an  uncommon  one,  and 
occurs  besides  only  Lev.  vi.  2  (Heb.  v.  21)  twice,  xviii.  20,  xix.  11, 
15,  i7,xxiv.  19,  XXV.  14 twice,  15,  17  (EW.  'neighbour,'  'another'). 

smite.  The  verb  in  the  Heb.  is  masc,  so  the  unnamed  foe, 
not  the  sword,  must  be  addressed.  LXX  (B  a)  read  the  plural, 
Traro^aTf.  though  most  MSS.  have  the  sing,  irdra^ov  :  three  have 
TTttTo^cy  '  t  will  smite '  {pDH  for  yi),  a  reading  followed  also  in  the 
quotation,  Mt.  xxvi.  31.  This  agrees  with  the  following  '  I  will 
turn '  and  is  probably  right  :  the  sword  is  directed  by  Yahweh 
Himself. 

The  words  are  quoted  in  Mt.  xxvi.  31  with  reference  to  the 
dispersion  of  the  disciples  after  the  betrayal  of  Christ ;  but,  as  the 
context  shows  (see  esp.  v.  8f.),  that  cannot  be  their  original 
intention :  rather,  we  must  suppose,  they  are  quoted,  without 
regard  to  their  original  import,  as  a  description  in  Old  Testament 
phraseology  of  a  New  Testament  fact :  see  similar  cases  in  Mt.  ii.  15, 
18,  xiii.  14  f.,  35,  XV.  8,  Rom.  viii.  36,  ix.  25  f.,  x.  18,  and  elsewhere. 

turn  mine  hand  upon.  Or,  against,  viz.  in  judgement :  see 
the  same  expression  in  Am.  i.  8,  Is.  i.  25,  Ps.  Ixxxi.  14. 


272  ZECHARIAH    13.  9-I4.  r.     A^  A* 

to  pass,  that  in  all  the  land,  saith  the  Lord,  two  parts 
therein  shall  be  cut  off  and  die ;  but  the  third  shall  be 
9  left  therein.  And  I  will  bring  the  third  part  through  the 
fire,  and  will  refine  them  as  silver  is  refined,  and  will  try 
them  as  gold  is  tried :  they  shall  call  on  my  name,  and 
I  will  hear  them :  I  will  say,  It  is  my  people ;  and  they 
shall  say.  The  Lord  is  my  God. 
14      [A*]  Behold,  a  day  of  the  Lord  cometh,  when  thy 

the  little  ones.     Viz.  of  the  flock  :  cf.  Jer.  xlix.  ao  =  l.  45. 

8,  9.  The  prophet  here  deserts  the  figure  of  the  flock,  and 
speaks  literally.  Two-thirds  of  the  people  will  perish,  but  one- 
third  will  survive  :  this,  after  having  been  further  purified  by  severe 
trials,  will  form  the  loyal  and  devoted  people  of  God.  The  doctrine 
of  the  purification  of  Israel  through  a  judgement,  and  the  pre- 
servation of  a  faithful  remnant,  is  pre-eminently  Isaiah's :  see  on 
Zeph.  iii.  11. 

The  'third  part'  may  be  a  thought  suggested  by  Ez.  v.  2,  12. 

9.  through  the  fire.  Fig.  of  severe  trial,  as  Is.  xliii.  2,  Ps. 
Ixvi.  12. 

and  will  smelt  them  as  silver  is  smelted,  and  try  them  an 
gold  Is  tried.  Both  figures  of  testing  by  severe  trial,  and  r^i- 
moving,  if  they  exist,  ignoble  elements.  Cf.  Is.  i.  25  'and  smelt 
away  as  in  a  furnace  [  -qd,  Is.  xlviii.  10]  thy  dross '  ;  Jer.  vi.  29  '  in 
vain  the  smelter  smelteih,  for  the  evil  are  not  separated,'  ix.  7 
'  Behold,  I  will  smelt  them,  and  try  them '  ;  Ps.  Ixvi.  10  '  For  thou 
hast  tried  us,  O  God,  thou  hast  smelted  us,  as  silver  is  smelted.' 

they  shall  call  on  my  name,  and  I  will  answer  them. 
A  mark  of  the  changed  relations  between  them  and  God  :  they 
will  be  forward  to  call  upon  Him,  and  He  will  be  ready  to  answer 
them  (cf.  Is.  Iviii.  9,  Ixv.  24).  *  To  call  om,'  both  here  and  elsewhere, 
is  properly  'to  call  untlt,^  i.e.  to  use  the  name  in  invocations. 

I  will  say,  &c.  Another  sign  of  the  mutual  harmony  and 
cordiality  established  between  the  purified  remnant  and  Yahweh ; 
cf.  Hos.  ii.  23  ;  also  ch.  viii.  8. 

i;;^^  xiv.  The  deliverance  of  Jerusalem  from  the  heathen  :  and  its 
elevation  into  a  centre  of  monotheism  for  the  world.  Another 
assault  upon  Jerusalem  is  here  described.  The  nations  this  time 
capture  the  city,  and  half  of  its  population  is  taken  into  captivity 
{vv.  X,  2)  :  Yahweh  next  appears,  in  order  to  fight  against  the 
assailants,  and  rescue  the  remainder ;  He  stands  upon  the  Mount 
of  Olives,  which  is  rent  in  asnder  beneath  Him  by  an  earthquake, 
and  through  the  chasm  thgjMBJtives  escape  {w.  3-5).     Thereupon 


ZECHARIAH    11.  2-4.     A*  273 

spoil  shall  be  divided  in  the  midst  of  thee.     For  I  will  2 
gather  all  nations  against  Jerusalem  to  battle;  and  the 
city  shall  be  taken,  and  the  houses  rifled,  and  the  women 
ravished  :  and  half  of  the  city  shall  go  forth  into  captivity, 
and  the  residue  of  the  people  shall  not  be  cut  off  from  the 
city.     Then  shall  the  Lord  go  forth,  and  fight  against  3 
those  nations,  as  when  he  fought  in  the  day  of  battle. 
And  his  feet  shall  stand  in  that  day  upon  the  mount  of  4 
Olives,  which  is  before  Jerusalem  on  the  east,  and  the 
mount  of  Olives  shall  cleave  in  the  midst  thereof  toward 
the  east  and  toward  the  west,  afid  there  shall  be  a  very 

the  Messianic  age  commences  :  the  light  is  perpetual,  and  the  air  is 
serene  {vv.  6f.)  :  the  territory  of  Judah  sinks  and  becomes  a  well- 
watered  plain,  Jerusalem  alone  retaining  its  former  elevation, 
conspicuous  from  afar,  a  goal  to  the  nations  for,  their  annual 
pilgrimage  at  the  feast  of  Booths,  and  holy  entirely  to  Yahweh 
\vv.  8-21).  The  prophecy  is  largely  in  substance  a  resume  oi  older 
prophecies  of  a  glorious  future,  combined  into  a  single  picture,  and 
expected  to  be  shortly  fulfilled  (notice  '■  is  coming '  in  v.  i). 

1.  Behold,  a  day  is  coming'  for  Yahweh.  A  day  when  He 
will  manifest  Himself  in  judgement.     Cf.  on  Zeph.  i.  7. 

and  thy  spoil,  &c.  The  pronouns  in  the  Heb.  are  fem., 
showing  that  Jerusalem  is  addressed.  The  prophet,  instead  of 
adhering  to  strict  chronological  order,  and  beginning  with  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  assault  and  capture  of  the  city,  starts  with  a  picture  of 
the  enemy  partitioning  their  spoil  in  the  midst  of  it. 

2.  all  nations.  The  expression  shows  that  the  prophet  has  in 
view  an  ideal  attack  upon  the  Holy  City  :  cf.  on  xii.  i. 

rifled.     The  word  generally  rendered  spoiled  (Is.  xiii.  16). 
ravished.     The  usual  concomitant  of  the  sack  of  a  city  in 
ancient  times  :  cf.  again  Is.  xiii.  16. 

3.  Yahweh  will  appear,  to  fight  against  the  assailants,  and 
secure  the  safety  of  that  half  of  the  population  which  still  remained 
in  the  city  {y.  2  end), 

fought.  Better,  fighteth,  viz.  on  whatever  the  occasion 
may  be. 

battle.  Not  the  usual  Heb.  word,  but  an  Aramaic  word, 
found  elsewhere  only  Ps.  Iv.  18  (? ;  see  RVm.),  21,  Ixviii.  30, 
Ixxviii.  9,  cxliv.  i,  Job  xxxviii.  23,  Eccl.  ix.  18  (in  2  S.  xvii.  11 
read  in  their  midst  with  LXX,  Pesh.,  Vulg.). 

4.  shall  cleave.  Cf.  the  pictures  of  the  mountains  quaking  or 
melting  before  Yahweh,  Jud.  v.  5,  Nah.  i.  5,  Ps.  xcvii.  5. 

T 


274  ZECHARIAH   14.  5,  r>.     A* 

great  valley ;    and  half  of  the  mountain  shall  remove 

5  toward  the  north,  and  half  of  it  toward  the  south.  And 
*  ye  shall  flee  ^  by  the  valley  of  ^  my  mountains ;  for  the 
valley  of  the  mountains  shall  reach  unto  Azel :  yea,  ye 
shall  flee,  like  as  ye  fled  from  before  the  earthquake  in 
the  days  of  Uzziah  king  of  Judah :  and  the  Lord  my  God 

6  shall  come,  and  all  the  holy  ones  with  thee.    And  it  shall 

*  Or,  as  otherwise  read,  tlie  valley  of  my  tnountains  shall  be 
stopped 
»>  Or,  to  «  Or,  the 

5.  Through  the  chasm  thus  made  in  the  mountain,  the  people 
still  remaining  in  Jerusalem  (v.  2^)  will  escape. 

to  the  valley :  the  cleft,  running  from  W.  to  E.,  described 
in  V.  4.  My  Mountains  and  the  mountains,  if  the  text  is  sound,  must 
be  the  mountains  just  formed,  by  the  Mount  of  Olives  being  cleft 
in  twain.  LXX,  Targ.,  Symm.,  and  the  Oriental  MSS.  of  the 
Hebrew  text,  read  for  the  first  'and  ye  shall  flee,'  &c.  'and  the 
valley  of  my  mountains  shall  be  stopped  up '  (oriD:")  for  cnp3"i).  The 
avoidance  of  the  double  '  and  ye  shall  flee  '  is  some  improvement ; 
but  otherwise  this  reading  has  no  advantage  over  the  Heb.,  nor 
does  it  agree  with  the  next  clause,  even  though  with  We.  we 
alter  further  and  read,  'And  the  valley  of  Hinnom  shall  be  stopped 
up.*     Marg.*^  (so  Targ.,  Syr.)  requires  a  change  of  text. 

to  Azel.  An  otherwise  unmentioned  locality, — presumably 
some  place  beyond  the  Mount  of  Olives,  on  the  east. 

tlie  earthquake,  &c.  The  one  mentioned  in  the  title  of  the 
Book  of  Amos  (Am.  i.  i),  c.  750  b.  c.  The  allusion  is  probably  an 
archaistic  trait :  for  a  living  memory  of  an  event  which  happened 
some  400  years  previously  could  hardly  have  been  current  among 
the  people. 

and  Tahweh,  &c.  Yahweh,  attended  by  all  His  angels  (read 
with  LXX,  'with  him'  for  'with  thee"),  will  now  *  come,'  i.e. 
apparently  come  nearer,  or  enter  Jerusalem,  to  complete  the 
defeat  of  His  foes,  and  establish  His  kingdom.  The  picture,  as 
elsewhere  in  the  prophets  (cf.  Joel  iii.  14-16),  is  in  parts  incom- 
plete :  it  is  not  said,  for  example,  what  happens  afterwards  to 
those  who  escape  through  the  cleft  in  the  Mount  of  Olives. 

the  holy  ones.  I.  e.  the  angels,  as  Job  v.  i,  Ps.  Ixxxix.  5,  7, 
Dan.  iv.  13,  viii.  13. 

6-V.  In  the  glorious  future,  then  to  begin,  there  will  be  no  ex- 
tremes of  temperature,  and  perpetual  light  will  prevail.  Cf.  Is.  iv. 
6,  XXX.  a6,  Ix.  ao ;  also  Rev.  xxai.  S,  2  Esdr.  vii.  39-42. 

6.  A  \cry  uncertain  verse.     RV.  (based  on  the  Heb.  niarg.)  is 


ZECHARIAH  14.  7.     A*  275 

come  to  pass  in  that  day,  that  ^the  light  shall  not  be 
'^with  brightness  and  with  gloom:  but  it  shall  be  one  day  ; 
which  is  known  unto  the  Lord  ;  not  day,  and  not  night : 
but  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  at  evening  time  there  shall 

^  Another  reading  is,  there  shall  not  be  light,  the  bright  ones  shall 
contract  themselves. 

^  According  to  some  ancient  versions,  but  cold  and  frost. 

very  improbable^ :  the  glorious  ones  -  will  be  thickened  (condensed,  or 
congealed)  is  a  possible  rendering  of  the  Heb.  text,  but  yields  a 
poor  and  doubtful  sense^:  the  statement  'there  shall  not  be  light' 
seems  also  to  conflict  with  v.  7  end.  Perhaps  We.,  Now.,  Marti 
are  right  in  reading,  there  shall  be  neither  heat  (oin  for  nis)  nor 
cold  (niiiT)  for  ninp^' ;  so  LXX,  Syr.,  Targ.,  Symm.,  Vulg.)  wof  frost 
C^iNEj:")  :  so  Heb.  marg.,  and  the  same  versions:  cf.  the  cogn.  verb, 
Ex.  XV.  8),  i.  e.  there  will  be  no  extremes  of  heat  and  cold,  the  day 
vvill  be  of  an  equable  temperature  (cf.  2  Esdr.  vii.  41). 

6.  And  it  shall  be  one  day  (i.  e.  one  long  continuous  day)  :  it 
(emph.)  is  known  to  Yahweli,  i.  e.  either  known  to  Him,  but  not 
to  us  (Dt.  xxix.  29),  or  (Keil)  noted  or  regarded  by  Him  above 
other  days. 

not  day,  and  not  nisfht,  &c.  I.  e.  with  no  interchange  of 
light  and  darkness,  but  wholly  light :  even  at  nightfall  there  will 
be  still  light.     Cf.  Is.  Ix.  20. 

/  ,  *V.  A  further  trait.  Perennial  streams  flowing  E.  and  W.  of 
Jerusalem  will  irrigate  and  fertilize  the  whole  land.  The  greater 
part  of  Judah,  except  for  occasional  wells,  is  practically  waterless 
(Smith,  Hist.  Geogr.  of  the  Holy  Land,  p.  307) :  the  high  central 
part  is  mostly  a  stony  moorland  ;  rounded  and  barren  limestone 
hills  line  many  of  the  wadys  ;  the  descent  to  Jordan  and  the  Dead 
Sea  is  down  stony  wadys,  or  over  the  rocky  and  desolate 
'wilderness  of  Judah.'  Hence  the  prophets  picture  its  irrigation 
in  the  ideal  future  by  copious  streams.     Cf.  Is.  xxx.  25 ;  and  esp. 

^  *  Brightness'  and  'gloom'  are  philological  tours  deforce. 

^  From  the  sense  borne  by  the  root  in  Aramaic  (where  it  often 
corresponds  to  the  Heb.  n2D  and  derivatives)  :  e.  g.  Ps.  xxiv.  8 
Targ.  '  the  king  of  glory ^   Dt.  xxviii.  58  Targ.  '  the  glorious  name.' 

^  It  is  supposed  to  mean  the  stars  (cf.  the  same  word  glorious  of 
the  moon  in  Job  xxxi.  36)  •will  draw  in  their  light;  but  the  metaph. 
use  of  thickened  is  very  doubtful  (see  how  the  word  is  actually  used, 
Ex.  XV.  S,  Zeph.  i.  12,  Job  x.  10^,  and  there  is  also  a  grammatical 
anomaly  (see,  however,  Is.  xlix.  11,  and  G.-K.  §  146").  RVm.  is  a 
questionable  paraphrase  of  this. 

T    2 


276  ZECHARIAH    14.  8-10.     A* 

8  be  light.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day,  that 
living  waters  shall  go  out  from  Jerusalem ;  half  of  them 
toward  the  eastern  sea,  and  half  of  them  toward  the 

9  western  sea :  in  summer  and  in  winter  shall  it  be.  And 
the  Lord  shall  be  king  over  all  the  earth :  in  that  day 

10  shall  the  Lord  be  one,  and  his  name  one.     All  the  land 
shall  be  turned  as  the  Arabah,  from  Geba  to  Rimmon 

Ez.  xlvii,  the  source  no  doubt  both  of  the  representation  here  and 
of  Joel  iii.  18 :  also  Rev.  xxii.  i  f. 

living  waters.  I.  e.,  as  regularly  in  Heb.,  moving,  runningf 
waters :  see  Gen.  xxvi.  19  RVm.  ;  Lev.  xiv.  5  RVm.,  &c. 

the  eastern  {lit.  the  front)  sea.  I.  e.  the  Dead  Sea.  So  Ez. 
xlviii.  17  ;  Joel  ii.  20.  In  fixing  the  quarters  of  the  heavens  the 
Hebrews  thought  of  themselves  as  turning  towards  the  East. 

the  western  (lit.  the  hinder)  sea.  I.e.  the  Mediterranean  Sea. 
So  Dt.  xi.  34,  xxxiv.  2  ;  Joel  ii.  20. 

in  summer,  &c.  The  streams  will  be  perennial :  they  will  not, 
like  many  of  the  streams  in  Palestine,  fail  in  the  hot  summers. 

9.  Yahweh  will  then  be  the  one  King,  and  the  one  God,  of  the 
whole  earth. 

shall  Yahweh  he  one,  and  his  name  one.  Universal  mono- 
theism will  prevail :  Yahweh,  the  true  God,  will  no  longer  be 
confused  with  other  gods  ;  there  will  no  longer  be  gods  bearing 
many  names:  Yahweh  will  be  everywhere  recognized  as  one,  and 
all  worship  will  be  Yahweh-worship. 

10.  The  territory  of  Judah  generally, —which  is  mostly  a 
mountainous  country,  rising  up  gradually  from  the  Mediterranean 
Sea  on  the  W.,  and  more  precipitously  from  the  Dead  Sea  (1,292 
feet  below  the  Mediterranean  Sea)  on  the  E.,  to  the  central 
ridge  (in  which  Jerusalem  is  2,500  feet,  and  Hebron  3,000  feet, 
above  the  Mediterranean  Sea), — will  then  sink  and  become  a  plain, 
Jerusalem  alone  remaining  at  its  former  elevation,  and  so  rising 
majestically  out  of  it.  The  physical  elevation  of  Jerusalem  is 
a  material  expression  of  the  spiritual  pre-eminence  of  the  religion 
of  Zion  ;  and  is  a  trait  pretty  clearly  derived  from  Is.  ii.  a  f.  =Mic. 
iv.  I  f.  (where  the  Temple  hill,  exalted  above  other  mountains,  and 
visible  from  afar,  attracts  the  gaze  of  distant  nations,  and  is  the  goal 
of  their  pilgrimages). 

as  the  'ArSbSh.  I.  e.  like  the  level  floor  of  the  great  trough 
or  depression  through  which  the  Jordan  flows  (Dt.  i.  i  RVm.), 
once,  in  ages  long  before  the  appearance  of  man  upon  the  globe, 
the  site  of  an  inland  sea.  the  deposits  from  which  formed  originally 
the  floor  of  the  'Arabah. 


ZECHARIAH   14.  n.     A*  277 

south  of  Jerusalem ;  and  she  shall  be  lifted  up,  and  shall 
dwell  in  her  place,  from  Benjamin's  gate  unto  the  place 
of  the  first  gate,  unto  the  corner  gate,  and  from  the  tower 
of  Hananel  unto  the  king's  winepresses.     And  men  shall  1 1 
dwell  therein,  and  there  shall  be  no  more  » curse ;  but 

*  Or,  ban 

Oeba'.  Now  Jeba,  6  miles  NE.  of  Jerusalem,  on  the  S.  edge 
of  the  steep  Wady  Suweinit  (cf.  i  S.  xiii.  3,  16,  xiv.  5) ;  men- 
tioned in  2  K.  xxiii.  8  as  a  point  on  the  S.  border  of  the  Northern 
kingdom,  and  here  as  one  on  the  N.  border  of  Judah. 

Bimmon.  No  doubt,  the  place  called  *En-Rimmon  ('  Rimmon's 
spring')  in  Neh.  xi.  29,  and  the  corrected  text  of  Jos.  xv.  32,  xix. 
7,  I  Chr.  iv.  32  ;  probably  the  modern  Unitn  er-immanitn,  9  miles 
N.  of  Beer-sheba,  and  about  35  miles  SW.  of  Jerusalem. 
dwell.  Or,  sit,  i.  e.  be  inhabited  ;  cf.  xii.  6. 
from  Benjamin's  g-ate.  This  was  a  gate  leading  into  the 
territory  of  Benjamin  (see  Jer.  xxxvii.  13,  and  cf.  v.  12) ;  it  must  have 
been  consequently  in  the  N.  wall  of  the  city  ;  from  the  present 
passage  it  may  be  inferred  that  it  was  at  the  E.  end  of  this  wall. 
The  'gate  of  Ephraim  '  (2  K.  xiv.  13  ;  Neh.  viii.  16,  xii.  39^  with 
which  it  has  been  identified,  seems  to  have  been  more  nearly  at 
the  centre  of  the  N.  wall. 

tlxe  first  gate.  Obscure  :  perhaps  the  same  as  the  '  corner 
gate,'  Or  perhaps  the  former  g-ate  (note  'the  place  of),  i.e. 
some  gate  disused  at  the  time  when  the  prophet  wrote. 

the  corner  gate  (2  K.  xiv.  13  ;  2  Chr.  xxvi.  9  ;  Jer.  xxxi.  38) : 
this  was  400  cubits  (700  feet)  to  the  W.  of  the  gate  of  Ephraim 
(2  K.  /.  c),  and  stood  no  doubt  at  the  NW.  corner  of  the  city. 

and  from  the  tower  of  Hanan'el.     To  judge  from  Neh.  iii. 
r,  xii.  39,  a  tower  in  or  near  the  NE.  corner  of  the  city  walls, 
^^j^t  far  from  the  gate  of  Benjamin. 

^^M    to  the  king's  wine-vats.    Probably  near  the  '  king's  garden  ' 

WMd  pool  of  Shiloah  (Neh.  iii.  15),  at  the  SE.  corner  of  the  city, 

Jjt  far  from  the  former  royal  palace.     The  verse  thus  specifies 

Wo  of  the  former  boundaries  of  the  city,  one  on  the  N.,  and  one 

(]|  the  E.,  within  which,  after  its  elevation,  it  will  still  be  inhabited 

:Q  of  old.     Cf.  Jer.  xxxi.  38,  where  Jeremiah  promises  that  Jeru- 

lem  shall  be  rebuilt  from  the  towe?-  of  Hanatt'el  unto  the  cornier 

te,  meaning  thereby  to  indicate  the  line  of  its  N.  wall. 

.*l|ll.  The  inhabitants  will  not  again  have  to  go  into  exile,  as  had 

ely  {v.  2)  been  their  lot  :  nor  will  the  '  ban  '  again  fall  upon  it, 

it  had  done  in  the  past  (Is.  xliii.  28  [read  the  past  tenses,  as  in 

"m.]  ;  and  in  the  threat,  Jer.  xxv.  9).     Cf.  Rev.  xxii.  3. 

bant     Fig.  for  destruction.     To  '  ban '  (the  cognate  verb  is 


278  ZECHARIAH  14.  12.-14.     A* 

1 2  Jerusalem  shall  dwell  safely.  And  this  shall  be  the  plague 
wherewith  the  Lord  will  smite  all  the  peoples  that  have 
warred  against  Jerusalem  :  their  flesh  shall  consume  away 
while  they  stand  upon  their  feet,  and  their  eyes  shall 
consume  away  in  their  sockets,  and  their  tongue  shall 

13  consume  away  in  their  mouth.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass 
in  that  day,  that  a  great  ^  tumult  from  the  Lord  shall  be 
among  them ;  and  they  shall  lay  hold  every  one  on  the 
hand  of  his  neighbour,  and  his  hand  shall  rise  up  against 

J 4  the  hand  of  his  neighbour.     And  Judah  also  shall  fight 
^  against  Jerusalem ;   and  the  wealth  of  all  the  nations 
*  Or.  discomfiture  ^  Or,  at 

usually  in  RV.  rendered  by  '  devote,'  or  by  '  utterly  destroy,'  with 
'  devote  '  in  the  margin)  was  to  devote  to  Yah  web  for  destruction  : 
it  was  especially  put  in  force  against  heathen  people  or  cities, 
after  they  had  been  conquered.  See  Nu,  xxi.  2  ;  Dt.  ii.  34,  vii.  2  ; 
Josh.  vi.  r^,  18,  21  ;  i  S.  xv.  3,  8 :  and  cf.  'Curse'  in  DB. 

dwell  {v.  10)  safely.  As  Lev.  xxvi.  5  ;  Ez.  xxviii.  26,  xxxiv. 
25,  28  al. 

12-15.  The  prophet  now  comes  back  to  describe  the  destruction 
of  the  nations  who  had  been  warring  against  Jerusalem  (vv.  a-3). 

12.  An  appalling  plague  falls  upon  them  :  they  are  smitten,  as 
they  stand,  into  mouldering  corpses. 

plague.  I.  e.  irXTjyT],  a  severe  stroke  or  blow  (cognate  with 
the  verb  rendered  'smite'),  not  necessarily  (see  2  S.  xviii.  7 
'  slaughter  '),  though  it  is  so  in  the  present  case,  a  '  plague '  in  the 
modern  sense  of  the  word  (cf.  Nu.  xvi.  48-50,  xxv.  8, 9 ;  2  S.xxiv.  21). 

consume  away  (each  time).  Moulder  (Is.  xxxiv.  4  RVm^ 
or  rot ;  in  Is.  iii.  24,  v.  24,  the  cognate  subst.  is  rendered  rotten- 
ness. In  the  Heb.  the  pronouns  'their,'  'they,'  from  'their  flesh' 
to  '  their  tongue,'  are  all  singular,  individualizing  the  description. 

13.  14.  A  great  panic  will  seize  them,  causing  them  in  their 
bewilderment  to  slay  one  another  ;  and  their  wealth  will  become 
the  spoil  of  the  Jews.  Cf.  Jud.  vii.  22  ;  1  S.  xiv.  20 ;  2  Chr.  xx.  23  ; 
and  esp.  Ez.  xxxviii.  21  (in  the  picture  of  the  rout  of  the  hosts  of 
Gog  after  their  assault  upon  the  land  of  Israel). 

discomfiture  (RVm.).  I.e.  confusion,  rout:  cf.  i  S.  -,. 
20 ;  and  the  cognate  verb  in  Jos.  x.  10,  Jud.  iv.  15,  i  S.  vii.  10  at. 

14.  And  Judah  also.  In  distinction  from,  if  not  (see  the  n«*t 
note)  in  opposition  to,  Jerusalem  :  cf.  xii.  2*,  7.  *^ 

affalast  (or  in)  Jerusalem.    I,  e.  either  (We.,  Now.,  Smith. 


ZECHARIAH  14,  15,  i6.     A*  279 

round  about  shall  be  gathered  together,  gold,  and  silver, 
and  apparel,  in  great  abundance.  And  so  shall  be  the  15 
plague  of  the  horse,  of  the  mule,  of  the  camel,  and  of  the 
ass,  and  of  all  the  beasts  that  shall  be  in  those  camps,  as 
this  plague.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  every  one  16 
that  is  left  of  all  the  nations  which  came  against  Jerusalem 
shall  go  up  from  year  to  year  to  worship  the  King,  the 

Marti),  Judah  also  will  be  seized  by  the  panic,  and  fight  agamst 
Jerusalem  (cf.  xii.  2^),  though  this  is  not  a  thought  suggested  by 
the  context ;  or  Judah,  though  once  (xii.  2^,  7)  unfriendly  to 
Jerusalem,  will  now  fight  in  it  against  the  common  foe. 

ajid  the  wealth,  &c.  The  tables  will  be  turned  ;  and  the  lot 
of  Jerusalem  {v.  i^)  will  now  become  that  of  its  foes.  Cf.  Ez. 
xxxix.  9,  10  (the  vast  spoil  taken  from  the  hosts  of  Gog)  ^ 

15.  The  sequel  to  v.  12.  A  plague  similar  to  that  oiv.  12  will 
fall  also  upon  the  invaders'  beasts  of  burden  and  other  animals, 

and  so.  I.  e.  like  the  plague  off.  12,  which  is  also  referred 
to  by  'this  plague  '  at  the  end  of  the  verse.  The  close  connexion 
of  V.  15  with  V.  12,  and  esp.  the  words  *  so '  and  '  tjtiis,'  give 
some  colour  to  the  suggestion  that  vv.  13,  14  are  not  original 
here,  but  have  been  introduced  by  a  later  writer  from  the  point  of 
view  of  ch.  xii  ('  agamst  Jerusalem  '  being  in  this  case  the  meaning 
in  V.  14). 

16-19.  The  effects  of  this  judgement  upon  Israel's  foes.  Those 
who  survive  of  the  nations  will  become  worshippers  of  Yahweh, 
and  keep  the  feast  of  Booths  every  year  at  Jerusalem  {v.  16). 
Drought,  or  some  equivalent  misfortune,  will  be  the  punishment 
of  any  nation  which  neglects  this  pilgrimage  {vv.  17-19).  With 
the  general  thought  of  the  passage,  cf.  Is.  Ixvi.  18,  19,  20,  23 
(effects  of  the  judgement  described  in  vv.  15-17  upon  the  nations). 

16.  which  came  agfainst  Jerusalem.     See  vv.  2,  3,  12. 

the  Kinsf.  Absolutely,  the  Sovereign  of  the  world.  The 
feast— or,  strictly  (p.  i4o\  the  pilgrimage — of  Booths  (Lev.  xxiii. 
34  ;  Dt.  xvi.  13-16),  also  called  the  feast  of  Ingathering  (Ex. 
xxiii.  i6  =  xxxiv.  22),  was  pre-eminently  an  occasion  of  thanks- 
giving for  harvest  and  vintage  (Dt.  /.  c.\  It  is  mentioned, 
probably,  partly  as  the  most  important  of  the  three  annual 
pilgrimages  of  the  Jews  (Ex.  xxiii.  14,  15-17  =  xxxiv.  18,  22,  23; 
Dt.  xvi.   13-17), — it   is  sometimes  spoken   of  absolutely  as   'wr 


*  The  Hebrew  scholar  should  notice  in  this  verse  the  late  idiom 
37^  (more  than  thirty  times  in  Chr.,  e.g.  i  Chr.  xxii.  2,  3,  4,  5,  8,  14, 
T!^  :  see  the  wrxtGr^s  Introduction,  p.  502  f.  (ed.  7,  p.  535),  No.  2^. 


28o  ZECHARIAH  14.  17-19.     A* 

1 7  Lord  of  hosts,  and  to  keep  the  feast  of  tabernacles.  And 
it  shall  be,  that  whoso  of  all  the  families  of  the  earth 
goeth  not  up  unto  Jerusalem  to  worship  the  King,  the 

18  Lord  of  hosts,  upon  them  there  shall  be  no  rain.  And 
if  the  family  of  Egypt  go  not  up,  and  come  not,  »  neither 
shall  it  be  upon  them:  there  shall  be  the  plague,  wherewith 
the  Lord  will  smite  the  nations  that  go  not  up  to  keep 

19  the  feast  of  tabernacles.     This  shall  be  the  ^  punishment 

of  Egypt,  and  the  ^  punishment  of  all  the  nations  that  go 

*  Or,  shall  there  not  be  upon  them  the  plague  d-c.  ?  The  text  is 
probably  corrupt.  The  Sept.  and  Syr.  have,  upon  them  shall  be 
the  plague  &c. 

^  Or,  sin 

pilgrimage'  (i  K.  viii.  2,  65;  Ez.  xlv.  25;  Neh.  viii.  14), — partlj' 
because  it  was  the  feast  at  which  the  nations  could  give  direct 
expression  to  their  own  religious  thankfulness  for  the  fruits  of  the 
earth,  and  partly  (Wellh.)  because  at  the  time  when  the  prophecj' 
was  written  the  yearly  pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem  was  an  important 
agency  for  keeping  alive  the  connexion  of  the  Diaspora  with  the 
capital,  and  so  it  would  naturally  be  thought  of  as  a  means  for 
promoting  the  same  end  in  the  case  of  the  nations  also. 

17.  there  shall  he  no  rain.  The  feast  of  Booths  being  an 
expression  of  thankfulness  for  the  year's  produce,  the  neglect  of 
it  is  appropriately  punished  by  the  withholding  of  the  rain  upon 
which  the  crops  depend  (cf.  Am.  iv.  7).  The  failure  of  rain 
naturally  implies  other  ills  :  not  only  scarcity  of  food,  but  disease, 
mortality  among  men  and  cattle,  &c. 

18.  neither,  &c.  The  rend,  of  RV.  implies  such  an  elliptical 
and  strangely  expressed  text,  and  that  of  RVm.  is  so  forced 
and  unnatural,  that  we  can  hardly  be  wrong  in  reading  with 
l.XX,  Syr.  (see  RVm.),  upon  them  shall  he  the  plagne  where- 
with, &c.  The  prophet  recollects  that  the  punishment  threatened 
in  V.  17  would  not  affect  Egypt  (where  rain  is  very  rare  (cf.  Hdt. 
ii.  13  f.,  iii.  10),  the  soil  being  fertilized  not  by  the  rainfall,  but  by 
the  annual  rising  of  the  Nile) ;  but,  he  adds,  its  people  will  not 
escape  :  the  same  '  plague '  of  scarcity,  famine,  disease,  &c.  which 
is  to  affect  other  nations  will  affect  them  also,  though  it  will  be 
due,  it  is  implied,  not  to  the  failure  of  rain,  but  to  the  failure  of 
the  annual  rising  of  the  Nile. 

19.  punishment.  Lit.  '  sin,'  but  regarded  here  as  including  its 
consequences  ;  cf.  Nu.  xxxii.  23,  and  *  iniquity '  in  Gen.  iv.  13, 
a  K.  vii.  Q. 


ZECHARIAH  14.  20, 21.    A^  281 

not  up  to  keep  the  feast  of  tabernacles.    In  that  day  shall  20 
there  be  upon  the  bells  of  the  horses,  holy  unto  the 
LORD ;  and  the  pots  in  the  Lord's  house  shall  be  like  the 
bowls  before  the  altar.     Yea,  every  pot  in  Jerusalem  and  21 
in  Judah  shall  be  holy  unto  the  Lord  of  hosts :  and  all 
they  that  sacrifice  shall  come  and  take  of  them,  and  seethe 


20-21.  The  final  and  crowning  trait  in  the  picture :  the 
holiness  of  Jerusalem.  This  is  a  frequent  feature  in  the  prophets' 
delineations  of  the  ideal  future  :  see  e.  g.  Is.  iv.  3  ;  Jer.  xxxi.  40 
(cf.  V.  38,  cited  above  on  v.  10)  ;  Is.  Ix,  21,  Ixii.  12  ;  Joel  iii.  17. 

20.  Even  horses,  which,  as  used  principally  for  warlike  pur- 
poses, were  viewed  with  disfavour  by  the  prophets,  and  threatened 
with  extinction  in  Jerusalem  (ix.  10 ;  Is.  ii.  7  ;  Mic.  v.  io\  will  now 
be  withdrawn  from  secular  uses,  and  consecrated  to  Yahweh, 

bells.  Bells  upon  the  necks  of  animals  are  very  common  in 
the  East. 

K0I7  unto  Yahweh.  The  same  inscription  which  was  on 
the  turban  of  the  High-Priest  (Ex,  xxviii.  36). 

the  pots.  Such  as  were  used  either  for  removing  ashes  from 
the  altar  of  burnt  offering  (Ex.  xxvii.  3  ;  i  K,  vii.  40  RVm.,  45%  or 
(see  V.  21)  for  boiHng  sacrifices  in.  The  bowls,  or  basons,  were 
large  vessels,  used  (see  on  ix.  15)  for  dashing  the  blood  of  the  slain 
animals  against  the  sides  of  the  altar.  The  meaning  therefore  is, 
either  that  the  altar  pots,  used  only  for  mean  purposes,  will 
become  as  holy  as  the  bowls  used  for  the  reception  of  the 
sacrificial  blood  ;  or  (We.,  Now.,  Smith,  Marti),  as  all  the  altar 
utensils  would  be  holy  alike  (Ex.  xl.  10;  Lev.  viii.  11),  that  on 
account  of  the  crowd  of  pilgrims  attending  the  feast  of  Booths 
(vv.  16-19),  the  boiling-pots  will  have  to  be  'like'  the  great 
altar-bowls  in  size,  capacious  enough  to  contain  the  sacrifices  that 
would  be  required. 

21.  Not  only  this,  however,  but  every  pot  in  Jerusalem  and 
Judah  will  be  holy  to  Yahweh,  and  so  available  for  the  use  of  the 
crowds  offering  sacrifice.  The  general  thought  of  the  holiness  of 
Jerusalem  is  here  developed  with  special  reference  to  the  annual 
pilgrimages  {v.  T6ff.),  and  the  sacrifices  by  which  they  would 
naturally  be  accompanied. 

and  all  they  that  sacrifice,  &c.  The  pilgrims,  in  preparing 
their  sacrifices,  will  be  able  to  use  any  of  the  pots  in  Judah  and 
Jerusalem,  and  not  merely  those  belonging  to  the  Temple. 

and  seethe  (i.  e.  boil)  therein.  For  the  boiling  of  sacrifices, 
see  I  S.  ii.  13  (at  Shiloh\  Lev.  vi.  28  (the  sin  ofierinj),  E2.  xlvi. 
ao.  ff4,  a  Chr.  xxxv.  13. 


282  ZECHARIAH  14.  ar.     A* 

therein :    and   in   that  day  there   shall   be   no  more  a 
a  Canaanite  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  of  hosts. 

*  Or,  trafficker 

a  Canaanite.  According  to  Keil  and  others,  mentioned  as 
a  type  of  an  unclean  person  (cf.  Is.  lii.  i).  But  more  probably 
the  marg.  is  right  (see  Zeph.  i.  ii) :  the  meaning  then  being  that 
as  any  vessel  in  the  country  could  now  be  used  for  sacred  purposes, 
traffickers — perhaps  actually  Canaanites — with  boiling-vessels  for 
sale  or  TiTfe  would  no  longer  have  occasion  to  haunt  the  Temple, 
and  desecrate  it  by  their  presence  (cf.  Mt.  xxi.  12). 

Additional  Note  on  Zech.  xi.   12,   13. 

It  may  be  worth  while  to  place  here  the  quotations  in  St. 
Matthew  side  by  side  with  the  Heb.  text  and  the  LXX. 

Mt.  xxvi.  15  :  And  they  weighed  him  thirty  pieces  of  silver 
{apr^vpia). 

Zech.  xi.  12  LXX  :  And  they  weighed  as  my  hire  thirty  pieces 
of  silver  {apr^vpovi). 

Zech.  xi.  13  Heb. :  And  Yahweh  said  unto  me,  Cast  it  to  the 
potter  [Pesh.  :  into  the  treasury],  the  noble  value  that  I  was 
valued  at  (and  dismissed)  from  them.  And  I  took  the  thirty 
(pieces  of)  silver,  and  cast  it  [s^c]  into  Yahweh's  house,  to  the 
potter  [Pesh.  :  into  the  treasury]. 

Zech.  xi.  13  LXX  :  And  the  Lord  said  unto  me,  Let  them  down 
(/fa0€s  avTov'i)  into  the  furnace  {x<uviVTi\piov'^'),  and  I  will  see- 
whether  it  is  approved  {ZoKiyiov) ",  as  I  [apparently  B  alone  has 
'it']  was  approved  for  their  sake  {yv\p  avrwv).  And  I  took  the 
thirty  pieces  of  silver,  and  threw  them  into  the  Lord^s  house,  into 
the  furnace. 

Mt.  xxvii.  g*^,  10  :  And  they  took "  the  thirty  pieces  of  silver, 
the  value  of  him  that  had  been  valued,  whom  they  valued  [  =  who 
was  valued]  on  the  part  of  (RVm.  :  see  Meyer)  the  children  of 
Israel,  and  gave  them  for  the  potter's  field,  as  the  Lord  com- 
manded me. 

^  Reading  for  ni'v  (or  "(iris)  some  derivative,  real  or  imagined  (e.  g. 
p2io),  of  pT  to  pour  ozit  or  cast :  cf.  Ex.  xxvi,  37  al.  x<^^^  for  pS;. 
XoovfVT^piov  (properly,  a  *  melting-pot ')  is  also  the  rend,  of  Symm. 

'  nw-iN  or  K'lW  for  "i-JN. 

^  "^P^iJ  for  i;^\n, — '  whether  [it  is]  precious '  being  paraphrased  by 
'  whether  it  Is  approved.' 

*  In  the  Creek,  the  form  is  the  same  as  that  of  '  I  took  •  in  Zech. 


MALACHI 


INTRODUCTION 

AND 

REVISED    VERSION    WITH   ANNOTATIONS 


MALACHI 


INTRODUCTION 

§  I.    Name  of  t^he  Prophet,  and  Contents  of 
\his  Prophecy. 

Respecting  the  person  of  Malachi  nothing  is  known. 
The  name  does  not  occur  elsewhere:  and  most  recent 
scholars  doubt  whether  it  is  really  the  personal  name  of 
the  prophet.  It  is  identical  with  the  Heb.  word  for  'my 
messenger'  in  iii.  i.  If  it  is  a  proper  name,  it  can 
hardly  mean  '  my  messenger,'  but  must  be  regarded  as 
a  shortened  form  for  Malachiah  S  '  messenger  of  Yah  * 
(though  this  name  also  does  not  actually  occur).  But 
the  LXX  and  the  Targum  do  not  recognize  it  as  a  proper 
name.  The  LXX  in  i.  i  have  'by  the  hand  oiMs  messenger' 
(lDt5i?0  for  ^3«i?D) ;  and  the  Targum  has,  '  by  the  hand 
of  my  angel,  whose  name  is  called  Ezra  the  scribe,' 
The  tradition  identifying  the  author  of  the  prophecy  with 
Ezra  is  mentioned  also  by  Jerome  (who  accepts  it)  and 
other  writers.  Still,  had  Ezra  been  the  author  of  the 
prophecy,  it  is  difficult  to  think  that  his  authorship 
would  have  been  thus  concealed^.  From  the  similarity 
of  the  title,  in  form,  to  Zech.  ix.  i,  xii.  i  it  is  probable 
that  it  is  due  to  the  compiler  of  the  volume  of  the  Twelve 
Prophets  '  ;  and  this,  taken  in  conjunction  with  the  some- 

^  For  the  contraction,  see  Noldeke,  art.  ^  Names '  in  EB.  §  52. 

2  The  tradition  arose  doubtless  out  of  the  feeling  that  the 
spirit  of  Ezra  breathed  in  the  book. 

2  The  combination  *the  oracle  of  Yahwch's  word,'  as  was 
remarked  on  p.  236,  is  peculiar,  occurring  only  in  these  three 


286  MALACHI 

what  prominent  recurrence  of  the  same  word  in  iii.  i,  has 
led  to  the  conjecture  that  the  prophecy,  when  it  came  to 
the  compiler's  hands,  had  no  author's  name  attached  to 
it,  and  that  he  prefixed  to  it  a  title  suggested  by  iii.  i,  the 
'messenger'  there  spoken  of  being  either  supposed  by 
him  to  be  the  prophet  himself,  or  understood  by  him  to 
be  a  term  descriptive  of  his  office,  and  so  capable  of 
being  applied  to  him  symbolically  (Ewald,  Kuenen,  Stade, 
VVellh.,  Nowack,  Smith,  &c.). 

Contents  of  the  Prophecy,  The  prophecy  falls  naturally 
into  seven  paragraphs  or  sections,  the  contents  of  which 
may  be  summarized  as  follows  : — 

(i )  i.  2-5  (Exordium).  To  those  who  'tsked  whether  Yahweh 
still  loved  Israel,  the  prophet  replies  by  pointing  to  the  con- 
trasted lots  of  Israel  and  Edom  :  in  vain  may  Esau^s  descendants 
expect  a  restoration  of  their  ruined  country. 

(2)  i.  6 — ii.  9.  Israel,  however,  is  unmindful  of  this  love,  and 
does  not  render  to  Yahweh  the  honour  and  reverence  which 
are  His  due.  Especially  the  priests  are  neglectful  of  their 
duties,  allowing  blemished  and  inferior  animals  to  be  presented 
upon  the  altar,  and  bringing  thereby  the  service  of  Yahweh 
into  contempt  (i.  6-14).  The  priests  are  unworthy  of  their 
ancestry  :  unless  they  amend  their  ways,  Yahweh  will  send 
His  curse  upon  them,  and  they  will  be  openly  disgraced  before 
all  the  people  (ii.  1-9). 

(3)  ii,  10-16.  A  rebuke  addressed  to  those  who  had 
divorced  their  own  wives  and  contracted  marriages  with 
foreign  women  :  such  practices,  the  prophet  declares,  are  in- 
consistent with  the  love  and  faithfulness  which,  as  children  of 
one  Father,  they  all  owe  to  one  another,  besides  imperilling 
Israel's  distinctive  nationality. 

(4)  ii.  17 — iii.  6.  In  reply  to  those  who  questioned  God^s 
justice,  and  complained  that  evil-doers  enjoyed  Yahweh's 
favour  and  prospered,  Malachi    announces   the   approach   of 


passages..  The  compiler,  having  reached  the  end  of  Zech.  i- 
viii,  had  still,  we  may  suppose,  three  prophecies  in  his  hands 
to  incorporate,  viz.  those  now  known  as  ^  Zech. '  ix-xi,  xii-xiv, 
and  '  Malachi '  (the  first  two  of  which  were  in  any  case 
anonymous) ;  and  he  framed  the  titles  of  Zech.  xii-xiv  and 
Malachi  on  the  model  of  the  opening  words — or,  if  the  con- 
jecture mentioned  on  p.  236  is  correct,  the  title, — of  Zech. 
ix-xi. 


S9 
INTRODUCTION  28; 

s 
a  clay  of  judgement,  when  Yahvveh  will  appear  •  suddenly,' 
firstly   to  purify  the  unworthy  priests,   that  they  may  offer 
pure  and  acceptable  sacrifices,  and  secondly  to  purge  the  land 
of  sinners  in  general. 

(5)  iii,  7-12.  The  neglect  of  the  people  in  paying  tithes  and 
other  dues  has  been  visited  by  Yahweh  with  drought,  locusts, 
and  failure  of  crops  :  let  these  dues  be  conscientiously  paid, 
and  the  visitations  will  cease,  and  the  land  again  be  abundantly 
blessed. 

(6)  iii.  13 — iv.  3.  A  section  among  the  people — no  doubt, 
the  murmurers  addressed  in  ii.  17— iii.  6, — complain  that  'it  is 
vain  to  serve  God'  ;  for  no  distinction  is  made  between  the  evil 
and  the  good.  The  day  is  coming,  replies  the  prophet,  '  burn- 
ing as  an  oven,'  when  Yahweh  will  distinguish  between  them 
quite  clearly  ;  the  workers  of  wickedness  will  be  consumed, 
and  the  righteous  will  triumph  over  their  fall. 

(7)  iv.  4-6.  Conclusion.  The  prophecy  concludes  with  an 
exhortation  to  obey  the  requirements  of  the  Mosaic  law,  and 
with  a  promise  of  the  advent  of  Elijah  the  prophet,  to  move,  if 
possible,  the  people  to  repentance,  and  thereby  to  avert  the 
threatened  judgement. 

§  2.    History  of  the  Times,  and  Date  of 
Malachi. 

It  is  evident  that  the  prophecy  of  Malachi  belongs  to 
the  period  after  the  Captivity,  when  Judah  was  a  Persian 
province  (notice  in  i.  8  *thy  governor  (Heb.  pehdh)'  as 
Hag.  i.  I,  Neh.  v.  14,  xii.  16,  &c.),  when  the  Temple  had 
been  rebuilt  (i.  10,  iii.  i,  10),  and  public  worship  was 
again  carried  on  in  it.  It  will  be  a  help,  however,  in  the 
effort  to  determine  its  date  more  precisely,  and  also  con- 
tribute to  illustrate  the  condition  of  the  people  at  the  time 
when  it  was  written,  if  we  survey  briefly  what  is  known  of 
the  history  of  Judah  during  the  years  that  began  with  the 
completion  of  the  Second  Temple. 

The  Second  Temple  was  completed  in  516  B.C.,  two 
years  after  the  date  of  Zechariah's  final  prophecy  (Zech. 
vii,  viii).  Between  Ezra  vi,  in  which  its  dedication  is 
described  {vv.  16-18),  and  Err.  vii  there  is  a  gap  of  nearly 
sixty  years  (included  in  the  words  'after  these  things,' 
vii.  i),  during  which   the   history  of  Judah  is  virtually 


,SS  MALACHI 

a  blank.  All  in  fact  that  we  know  of  this  period  is  that 
at  the  beginning  of  Xerxes'  reign  (485-65)  the  Samaritans 
made  unfriendly  representations  respecting  the  Jews  at 
the  Persian  court  (Ezr.  iv.  6).  In  the  seventh  year  of 
Artaxerxes  (465-25),  however  (B.C.  458),  Ezra,  the  priest 
and  scribe,  received  permission  from  the  Persian  king  to 
return  from  Babylon  to  Jerusalem,  to  inquire  into  the 
religious  condition  of  the  country,  and  to  take  with  him 
as  many  of  the  Jews  still  in  exile  as  chose  to  accompany 
him  (Ezr.  vii.  6-8,  14,  &c.).  Ezra  started  upon  his 
mission  with  many  marks  of  the  royal  favour.  Offerings 
were  sent  by  the  king  to  the  Temple  :  the  treasurers  of 
the  satrapy  to  which  Jerusalem  belonged  were  instructed 
to  assist  him  with  funds  :  and  the  priests  and  Levites  and 
other  Temple  officials  were  exempted  from  the  payment 
of  taxes.  About  1,750  Jews  availed  themselves  of  the 
permission  to  return  with  Ezra.  The  incidents  of  the 
return  are  told  in  Ezr.  viii.  It  was  not  many  days  after 
Ezra's  arrival  that  his  reforming  spirit  began  to  display 
itself.  The  princes  of  the  people  called  his  attention  to 
the  prevalence  of  intermarriage  with  the  heathen  people 
of  the  land,  which  was  threatening  to  destroy  the  dis- 
tinctive character  of  the  nation  :  if  we  may  judge  from 
the  horror  displayed  by  him  at  the  intelligence  (Ezr.  ix. 
3  f.),  Ezra  had  no  idea  of  the  extent  to  which  the  practice 
had  spread.  His  own  feeling  on  the  matter  quickly 
infected  the  people :  a  number  of  the  better-minded 
members  of  the  community  came  forward  and  offered 
him  their  support:  three  days  afterwards  a  public  assembly 
was  held ;  a  commission  of  elders  was  appointed  to 
inquire  into  the  facts  ;  and  such  as  had  contracted  foreign 
marriages — among  whom  are  mentioned  in  particular 
many  priests  and  Levites— were  compelled  to  put  away 
their  wives  (Ezr.  x). 

At  this  point  the  memoirs  of  Ezra  abruptly  end ;  and 
for  thirteen  years  we  again  know  but  little  directly 
about  the  internal  affairs  of  Judah.    It  was  in  all  proba- 


INTRODUCTION  289 

bility,  however,  during  this  interval  that  the  events 
recorded  in  Ezr.  iv.  7-23  took  place  ^  The  Jews  set 
about  rebuilding  the  walls  of  Jerusalem  ;  but  the  Samari- 
tans made  such  strong  representations  at  the  Persian 
court  of  the  mischief  which  might  ensue,  if  the  work 
were  allowed  to  proceed,  that  they  were  obliged  to  desist. 
Forcible  measures  were  indeed,  we  are  told  (Ezr.  iv.  23), 
used  against  them ;  and  the  dismantled  walls  and  burnt 
gates,  described  by  Nehemiah  in  445  (Neh.  i.  3),  seem, 
at  least  in  part,  to  have  been  the  result. 

The  Book  of  Nehemiah  opens  in  the  twentieth  year  of 
Artaxerxes,  B.C.  445.  In  this  year  Nehemiah,  Artaxerxes* 
cup-bearer,  hearing  of  the  ruined  state  of  the  walls  of 
Jerusalem,  and  the  unhappy  condition  of  the  restored 
community,  obtained  permission  to  proceed  to  Jerusalem 
as  governor,  and  rebuild  the  walls  of  the  city.  Nehemiah*s 
own  memoirs  describe  graphically  how,  upon  his  arrival 
at  Jerusalem,  he  induced  a  number  of  the  leading  families 
to  co-operate  with  him,  and  how,  in  spite  of  the  efiforts 
of  Sanballat  and  others  to  arrest  the  progress  of  the  work, 
the  restoration  of  the  walls  was  completed  within  the 
space  of  fifty-two  days  (Neh.  ii-iv,  vi).  The  walls  finished, 
Nehemiah  at  once  applied  himself  to  relieve  the  distress 
which  pressed  heavily  upon  a  considerable  section  of  the 
community.  Many  of  the  poorer  Jews  had  been  compelled 
by  the  bad  seasons  to  mortgage  their  lands  in  order  to 
get  food,  or  to  pay  the  Persian  tribute ;  and  some,  not 
having  the  means  to  pay  their  creditors,  had  been 
obliged  to  sell  their  children  as  slaves.  Nehemiah  sum- 
moned an  assembly ;  and  induced  the  wealthy  money- 
lenders to  restore  the  lands  of  their  poorer  brethren,  and 
to  reduce  or  forgo  the  interest  which  they  had  been  exact- 
ing (Neh.  v).  Shortly  afterwards  (Neh.  viii),  on  the  first 
and  second  days  of  the  seventh  month  (Tishri),  B.C.  444, 
Ezra  (who  now  suddenly  reappears),  at  the  request  of  the 


'  On  the  misplacement  of  Ezr.  iv.  6,  7-23,  see  p.  146  «. 
U 


290  MALACHI 

people,  read  the  *  book  of  the  law '  in  a  public  assembly, 
Nehemiah  and  a  number  of  Levites  standing  by  him 
and  assisting.  The  reading  deeply  impressed  those  who 
heard  it ;  and  it  was  continued  during  the  seven  days 
(the  fifteenth  to  the  twenty-first  of  Tishri)  of  the  feast  of 
Booths.  On  the  twenty-fourth  of  the  same  month  a  solemn 
fast  was  held ;  and  the  people,  separating  themselves 
from  all  foreigners,  assembled  again  for  a  great  national 
act  of  humiliation  and  confession  (Neh.  ix).  This  ended, 
they  pledged  themselves  by  a  covenant  to  obey  the  law, 
undertaking  in  particular,  (a)  to  avoid  marriages  with 
foreigners,  {d)  to  do  no  trade  on  the  Sabbath  or  other 
holy  day,  (c)  to  observe  the  sabbatical  year  and  its 
remission  of  debt,  (d)  to  pay  a  poll-tax  of  ^  shekel  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  Temple  ser\'ices,  (e)  to  pay  tithes  and 
firstfruits  to  the  Levites  (Neh.  x).  Soon  afterwards 
(Neh.  xii.  27-43)  the  restored  walls  were  dedicated  with 
universal  rejoicings. 

Nehemiah's  furlough,  it  seems,  was  now  at  an  end,  and 
he  had  to  return  to  the  Persian  court.  Twelve  years 
later,  in  432,  he  visited  Jerusalem  again  (Neh.  xiii.  4-31). 
In  spite  of  the  solemn  promises  made  by  the  people  in 
444,  he  found  that  in  the  interval  the  old  abuses  and 
irregularities  had  revived.  A  grandson  of  the  high-priest, 
Eliashib,  had  married  a  daughter  of  Sanballat,  the  Horon- 
ite  (xiii.  28  ;  see  ii.  10) ;  the  Ammonite,  Tobiah  (ii.  10, 
vi.  18),  was  also  connected  by  marriage  with  Eliashib  ; 
and  a  chamber  in  the  Temple  court,  in  which  tithes  and 
other  dues  had  formerly  been  stored,  had  been  appropri- 
ated to  his  use.  The  Levites  had  not  received  the  dues 
to  which  they  were  entitled  ;  they  had  consequently 
retired  to  their  fields  in  the  country,  and  the  Temple 
services  were  not  properly  kept  up.  Nehemiah  rectified 
these  abuses,  and  also  took  measures  to  secure  the 
observance  of  the  Sabbath,  protested  strongly  against  the 
marriages  with  foreign  women — in  particular,  with  women 
of  Ashdod,  Ammon,  and  Moab — which  were  still  in  vogue. 


INTRODUCTION  291 

restored  the  Temple  services,  and  made  provision  for  the 
payment  of  their  dues  to  the  Levites. 

A  comparison  of  the  terms  in  which  Malachi  speaks 
with  the  condition  of  Judah  as  disclosed  in  this  survey 
leaves  no  doubt  that  his  prophecy,  speaking  generally, 
belongs  to  the  age  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah.  The  Temple 
has  been  restored :  but  years  enough  have  passed  to 
disappoint  the  fervid  hopes  held  out  in  520  by  Haggai 
and  Zechariah  of  the  position  which  Judah  would  assume, 
as  soon  as  its  restoration  was  completed.  The  priesthood 
has  become  lax  and  degenerate;  there  have  been  numerous 
marriages  with  foreign  women ;  and  the  laity  have  shown 
great  remissness  in  the  payment  of  tithes  and  other 
sacred  dues.  These  abuses,  especially  the  second  and 
the  third,  are  just  those  which,  as  we  have  seen,  Ezra, 
and  particularly  Nehemiah,  found  prevalent  in  Judah, 
and  set  themselves  energetically  to  correct.  Is  it,  how- 
ever, possible  to  fix  Malachi's  date  more  precisely  ? 
Malachi  certainly  attacked  the  same  abuses  that  Ezra 
and  Nehemiah  did  :  but  did  he,  for  instance,  prepare  the 
way  for  Ezra's  reform  of  458,  or  for  the  covenant  to 
which  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  jointly  bound  the  people  in  444, 
or  for  the  reforms  instituted  by  Nehemiah  at  his  second 
visit  in  432  ?  That  he  wrote  while  Nehemiah  was 
governor  of  Jerusalem  is  improbable,  on  account  of  i.  8, 
which  implies  that  gifts  were  offered  to  the  '  governor,' 
whereas  Nehemiah  tells  us  that  he  refused  to  accept  any 
(Neh.  V.  15,  18).  From  the  close  similarity  between  the 
abuses  attacked  by  Malachi  and  those  which  Nehemiah 
found  at  his  visit  in  432  (neglect  of  the  Temple  services, 
the  non-payment  of  tithes,  and  mixed  marriages\  it  has 
been  argued  that  he  prophesied  shortly  before  this  date. 
On  the  other  hand,  though  Ezra  mentions  only  the  mixed 
marriages,  the  other  abuses  may  well  have  prevailed 
before;  the  terms  of  the  covenant  entered  into  in  444 
(Neh.  X.  34  ff.)  imply  that  there  had  already  been  remiss- 
ness in  the  payment  of  sacred  dues :  and  other  considera- 
u  2 


292  MALACHI 

tions  point  in  the  direction  of  an  earlier  date.  The  code 
accepted  by  the  people  in  444  clearly  included  the  Priestly 
law  of  the  Pentateuch  (see  Neh.  viii.  13-18,  x.  32-39) : 
Malachi,  however,  uses  terms  suggested  by  Deuteronomy 
(see  on  ii.  2,  4,  iii.  5,  10,  iv.  4),  and  does  not  betray 
that  familiarity  with  the  Priestly  Code  which  might  be 
expected  in  one  who  wrote  after  444.  It  is  true,  in 
commanding  (iii.  10)  the  whole  tithe  to  be  paid  into  the 
Temple,  Malachi  agrees  with  the  Priestly  Code  against 
Deuteronomy  (see  the  note  on  iii.  8) :  but  it  is  pointed 
out  that,  even  supposing  that  the  payment  of  tithe  to  the 
sanctuary  was  first  codified  in  444,  it  does  not  follow  that 
the  practice  first  began  then:  the  legislation  of  P  con- 
stantly attaches  itself  to  pre-existent  usage :  so  that  this 
passage  of  Malachi  is  not  decisive  for  a  date  later  than 
444.  Whether  Malachi  prophesied  also  before  the  arrival 
of  Ezra  in  458  it  seems  impossible  to  determine.  When 
Ezra  arrived  in  Jerusalem  he  found  that  the  question  of 
foreign  marriages  had  already  been  vexing  the  heads  of  the 
community  (Ezr.  ix.  i);  so  Malachi  may  have  been  one  of 
those  who  had  been  rousing  the  attention  of  the  people 
to  the  subject.  On  the  other  hand,  he  may  also  have 
prophesied  shortly  before  the  arrival  of  Nehemiah  in  445. 
Certainly  Ezra's  words  made  a  deep  impression  upon  the 
people,  and  many  mixed  marriages  were  repudiated  in  con- 
sequence (Ezr.  ix-x)  ;  but  we  do  not  know  how  far  the 
reform  reached,  or  how  long  it  was  before  the  evil  began  to 
revive,  as  it  certainly  had  revived,  when  Nehemiah  visited 
Jerusalem  in  432  (Neh.  xiii.  23-28).  There  may  thus  have 
been  sufficient  occasion  for  Malachi's  words  upon  the 
subject  even  after  458.  The  data,  it  must  be  evident, 
point  in  different  directions  ;  and  materials  for  a  confident 
conclusion  do  not  exist.  Recent  authorities,  laying  stress 
chiefly  on  the  Deuteronomic  expressions  of  Malachi,  are 
in  favour  of  a  date  shortly  before  458  '.     We  must  be 

^  W.  R.  Smith,  O.T.  in  the  Jewish  Churchy  pp.  425  f.,  427  «., 
446  (perhaps  before  458,  certainly  before  444  :  so  G.  A.  Smith, 


INTRODUCTION  293 

content  to  know  that  the  prophet  was  a  contemporary 
of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  ;  and  to  feel  sure  that  he  supported 
those  reformers,  and  insisted  independently  upon  the 
importance  of  their  work. 

§  3.  Scope  and  Character  of  Malachi's  Prophecy. 

The  moral  and  spiritual  temper  of  Judah  when 
Malachi  came  forward  to  prophesy  may  be  gathered 
partly  from  particulars  mentioned  in  the  preceding 
survey,  partly  from  allusions  contained  in  the  prophecy 
itself.  The  feeling  prevalent  in  Judah  at  the  time  was 
one  of  depression  and  discontent.  The  expectations 
which  earlier  prophets  had  aroused  had  not  been 
realized.  The  return  from  Babylon  had  not  been  followed 
by  the  ideal  glories  promised  by  the  Second  Isaiah  ;  the 
completion  of  the  Temple  had  not,  as  Haggai  and 
Zechariah  had  promised,  brought  in  the  Messianic  age ; 
Jerusalem,  instead  of  its  population  overflowing  on  all 
sides  (Zech.  ii.  4),  was  thinly  inhabited  (Neh.  vii.  4,xi.  i), 
and,  till  445,  largely  a  ruin  (Neh.  i.  3,  ii.  3,  17);  bad 
harvests  (Mai.  iii.  ii),  troubles  from  neighbours  (Ezr. 
iv.  7-23  ;  cf.  Neh.  iv.  2ff.),  and  general  poverty  (Neh.  v) 
increased  the  disheartenment.  A  spirit  of  carelessness 
and  indifference  prevailed  widely  among  the  people. 
Many,  for  example, — and  here  the  priests  were  the  chief 
offenders, — forgetful  of  the  honour  and  reverence  which 
were  His  due,  treated  Yahweh's  altar  with  contempt, 
offering  upon  it  cheap  or  blemished  sacrifices  (i.  6-8,  13, 
14) ;  in  other  respects,  also,  the  priests  had  declined  from 
the  high  ideal  of  their  office  ;  they  performed  its  duties 

pp.  337  f.) ;  Wellh.,  Nowack,  Marti  (before  458) :  A.  B.  David- 
son also  {The  Exile  and  ihe  Restoration,  pp.  88 if.)  places 
Malachi  before  Ezra  and  Nehemiah.  Kuenen  {Einl.  §  84. 
8-10)  and  Kirkpatrick  (pp.  497  f.)  prefer  c.  432.  Kuenen 
observes  that,  even  though  Malachi  wrote  after  the  Priestly 
Code  was  accepted^  he  may  still  have  used  the  older  and  more 
familiar  Deuteronomic  expressions. 


294  MALACHl 

perfunctorily ;  they  were  open  to  bribery  ;  they  permitted 
to  one  what  they  refused  to  another;  uprightness  and 
impartiality  were  not,  as  they  should  have  been,  the  ruling 
principles  of  their  life  (ii.  6,  7,  8,  9^).  The  people 
generally  were  remiss  in  the  payment  of  tithes  and  other 
sacred  dues  (iii.  8).  Divorce  also  was  abnormally  pre- 
valent ;  a  man,  when  the  '  wife  of  his  youth '  no  longer 
pleased  him,  repudiated  her,  heedless  of  the  suffering 
inevitably  entailed  by  such  heartless  and  unnatural 
behaviour  (ii.  10,  13-16).  At  the  same  time  marriages 
with  foreign  women— perhaps,  in  particular,  with  women 
belonging  to  the  Samaritans  and  other  neighbours  of  the 
Jews,  who  had  not  been  disturbed  from  their  homes,  and 
were  wealthier  and  better  off  than  the  colonists  who  had 
returned  from  Babylon— were  now  in  fashion,  and 
threatened  to  obliterate  the  distinctive  character  of  the 
nation  (ii.  11,  12;  also  Ezr.  ix-xi,  Neh.  xiii.  23-29). 
There  were  besides  *  sorcerers,  adulterers,  false  swearers,' 
as  well  as  those  of  whom  the  prophets  in  the  past  had  so 
often  complained,  men  belonging  to  the  well-to-do 
classes,  who  nevertheless  looked  down  coldly  upon  all 
beneath  them,  and  scrupled  not  to  withhold  the  wages  of 
the  hired  servant,  and 'to  oppress  in  different  ways  *the 
stranger,  the  fatherless,  and  the  widow'  (iii.  5)^  In 
consequence,  no  doubt,  of  the  troubles  and  social  wrongs 
which  they  saw  about  them,  there  arose  a  party  who, 
though  they  observed  the  forms  of  religion  (iii.  14),  were 
deficient  in  spirituality,  and  impatient  because  their 
religious  observances  brought  them  no  advantage ;  who 
gave  way  consequently  to  sceptical  thoughts,  who  doubted. 


^  On  the  cleavage  of  parties  in  Malachi's  age,  and  the  rise, 
b3'  the  side  of  the  stricter,  national  party,  of  another  party 
*  lax,  ready  to  compromise  principles,  cosmopolitan,  and  with 
no  feeling  of  race,  and  therefore  unsympathetic  towards  their 
poorer  fellows  (Mai.  iii.  5),' — the  forerunners  of  the  anti- 
national  Hellenizing  party  in  theMaccabaeanage,— cf.  Davidson, 
The  Exile  and  the  Restcration,  p.  89. 


INTRODUCTION  295 

for  instance,  whether  Yahweh  had  any  real  Move'  for 
Israel  (i.  2),  who  argued  that  it  was  vain  to  serve  Him, 
for  the  righteous  had  no  advantage  over  the  wicked,  and 
who  asked,  *  Where  is  the  God  of  judgement  ? '  (ii.  17, 
iii.  14  f.).  In  contrast  to  these  three  classes  of  the  in- 
different, the  *  proud '  (iii.  1 5),  and  the  doubters,  there 
was  the  seemingly  small  circle  of  loyal  and  pious  servants 
of  Yahweh,  who  clung  together,  and  did  their  best  to 
reassure  one  another  with  thoughts  of  trust  and  hope 
(iii.  16).  Malachi,  in  Yahweh's  name,  comes  forward 
emphatically  as  one  of  these  (iii.  17  f.) ;  and  his  book  is 
essentially  an  argument  addressed  to  the  various  classes 
just  mentioned.  He  points  out  the  inconsistencies  and 
unseemliness  involved  in  the  irreverence  towards  God, 
and  in  the  practice  of  divorce  ;  he  recalls  priests  and 
laity  alike  to  the  ideals  which  they  have  forgotten  ;  and 
he  announces  the  speedy  advent  of  a  great  and  signal 
Day  of  Judgement,  which  will  separate  the  good  from  the 
wicked,  and  satisfy  the  doubters,— a  day  when  the  de- 
generate priesthood  will  be  purified,  so  that  Judah's 
offerings  will  again,  as  of  old,  be  acceptable  to  Yahweh, 
when  the  perjurers,  the  oppressors,  and  all  others  who 
work  wickedness  will  be  consumed,  and  left  without 
'  root  or  branch '  (iv.  i),  but  when  the  little  group  of  His 
own  pious  worshippers  will  be  owned  by  Him  as  the 
heirs  of  Israel's  ideal  privilege,  even  as  His  *  peculiar 
treasure,'  and  when  their  righteousness,  shining  forth  as 
the  sun,  will  bring  them  healing  from  their  woes.  Before, 
however,  this  Day  of  Judgement  breaks,  Elijah  the 
prophet  will  be  sent  to  heal  dissensions  in  the  nation 
(iv.  6),  and  to  do  what  he  can  to  prepare  men  for  the 
advent  of  the  Judge  (iii.  i). 

Though  the  word  itself  is  not  used,  Malachi's  theodicy 
is  just  Isaiah's  doctrine  of  the  preservation  of  a  faithful 
'remnant'  (see  on  Zeph.  iii.  11),  applied  and  adapted 
to  the  circumstances  of  his  own  day.  Malachi's  de- 
scriptions of  the  ideal  future  are  brief.    Israel'^acrifices 


296  MALACHI 

will  be  acceptable  when  the  priesthood  has  been  purifiec 
(iii.  3^,  4) ;  prosperity,  and  the  envious  admiration  of  thi 
nations,  are  promised  if  tithe  and  terfcmdh  are  duly  paic 
(iii.  10^,  12) ;  the  pious  worshippers  of  Yahweh  will  com( 
forth  from  their  hiding-places  into  light  and  happinesf 
when  their  righteousness  has  been  vindicated  and  th( 
wicked  have  been  exterminated  (iii.  2,  3).  The  judge- 
ment, it  has  been  observed,  which  Malachi  looks  forwarc 
to  is  confined  to  Israel ;  it  is  a  sifting  which  removes  the 
ungodly  members  of  the  theocracy:  but  the  heather 
world  in  general — with  the  one  exception  of  Edom  (i.  3,  4) 
which  explains  itself,  and  in  spite  of  the  prophet's  strong 
condemnation  of  marriages  with  foreigners — is  viewed  bj 
him  on  its  better  side  (i.  li),  and  Israel  is  contrastec 
unfavourably  with  it  (i.  12).  Haggai  and  Zechariah,  or 
the  other  hand,  had  both  proclaimed  the  approaching 
fall  of  the  powers  of  the  world.  The  difference  may  b< 
due  partly  to  the  fact  that  Haggai  and  Zechariah  wrote 
when  men  still  remembered  the  heavy  yoke  of  Babylon 
whereas  Malachi  lived  under  the  benigner  rule  of  Persia 
but  this  will  hardly  be  the  entire  explanation.  Malach 
has  graver  fault  to  find  with  his  own  people  than  those 
two  prophets  had ;  and  the  judgement  which  he  announce; 
is  determined  accordingly.  And  so  we  may  notice  that  while 
Haggai  and  Zechariah  promise  that  Yahweh  will  come 
to  dwell  in  His  Temple,  as  His  people's  protector  (Zech. 
ii.  10,  12,  viii.  3),  Malachi  declares  that  He  will  come  to 
His  Temple  as  His  people's  Judge  (iii.  I  ff.,  iv.  i). 

Like  the  other  prophets,  Malachi  aims  at  recalling  his 
people  to  moral  and  religious  earnestness.  But  the 
means  adopted  by  him  are  not  those  followed  generally  by 
the  other  prophets.  Malachi  insists  upon  the  importance 
of  maintaining  the  purity  of  the  public  worship  of  God, 
and  the  distinctive  character  of  the  nation.  His  book 
is  remarkable  among  the  writings  of  the  prophets  on 
account  of  the  interest  which  it  evinces  in  itual  obser- 
vances, and  the  grave  light  in  which  it  view.*,  ritual  laxity. 


INTRODUCTION  297 

The  explanation  is  to  be  found  in  the  circumstances  of 
the  time.  The  course  of  events  since  the  restoration  had 
made  the  Temple,  with  its  high-priest  and  its  sacrificial 
system,  a  centre  for  the  community  much  more  than  it 
had  been  before  :  but  this  very  fact  had  a  providential 
significance  in  view  of  the  future.  It  was  essential  for 
Israel's  preservation  as  the  people  of  God  that  the 
ceremonial  obligations  laid  upon  it  should  be  strictly 
observed,  and  that  it  should  hold  itself  aloof  socially  from 
its  heathen  neighbours.  Malachi  judged  the  times  as  the 
reformers  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  judged  them.  But  he  is 
no  formalist ;  his  book  breathes  the  genuine  prophetic 
spirit ;  he  prophesies,  as  G.  A.  Smith  has  happily  put  . 
it,  *  within '  the  law,  but  not  '  under '  the  law.  Naturally  / 
men's  neglect  or  observance  of  ritual  rules  was  a  measure 
of  their  'regard  for  God :  but  what  Malachi  demands  is 
not  the  observance  of  these  rules  in  themselves,  but  the 
spirit  of  worship,  of  reverence,  and  of  faithfulness,  which 
finds  expression  in  them :  he  enforces  the  claims  of  the 
law,  but  only  in  so  far  as  its  forms  are  the  expression  of 
that  spirit :  moral  offences  are  strongly  reprobated  by 
him  (iii.  5) ;  and  from  the  thought  of  the  brotherhood  of 
all  Israelites,  as  children  of  one  spiritual  Father,  he 
deduces  the  social  duties  which  they  owe  to  one  another, 
and  the  wrongfulness  of  the  selfish  system  of  divorce 
prevalent  in  his  day.  The  book  of  Malachi  is  an  original 
and  attractive  one  ;  and  we  may  be  thankful  that  it  has 
been  preserved  in  the  volume  of  the  Twelve.  Not  only 
does  it  present  us  with  the  picture  of  a  man  of  deep 
earnestness  and  incisive  moral  force  contending  boldly 
and  independently  against  the  abuses  of  his  time,  but  it 
is,  from  a  historical  point  of  view,  of  great  interest  and 
value ;  for  it  sheds  much  welcome  light  upon  the  social 
and  religious  condition  of  Judah  at  a  time  about  which 
our  other  sources  leave  us  in  many  respects  imperfectly 
informed. 
The  style  of  Malachi  is  more  prosaic  than  that  of  the 


298  MALACHI 

prophets  generally,  though  his  sentences  often  fall  into 
the  rhythmical  parallelism  which  is  such  a  constant 
feature  in  the  more  elevated  oratory  of  the  prophets.  He 
does  not  possess  the  eloquence  or  the  imaginative  power 
of  some  of  the  older  prophets :  but  his  words  are  always 
forcible  and  direct :  and  the  similes  and  imagery  which 
he  uses  are  effective  and  to  the  point ;  e.  g.  i.  6,  and 
especially  iii.  2,  3,  17^,  iv.  i,  2*  (the  '  sun  of  righteous- 
ness '),  2^,  3.  He  adopts  also  a  novel  literary  form : 
first  he  states  briefly  the  truth  which  he  desires  to  enforce, 
then  follows  the  objection  which  it  is  supposed  to  provoke, 
finally  there  comes  the  prophet's  reply,  reasserting  and 
substantiating  his  original  proposition  (i.  2f.,  6,  7,  ii.  13  f., 
17,  iii.  7,  8,  13).  Thus  in  place  of  the  rhetorical  develop- 
ment of  a  subject,  usual  with  the  earlier  prophets,  there 
appears  in  Malachi  a  dialectic  treatment  by  means  of 
question  and  answer.  It  has  been  supposed  that  we 
have  here  the  first  traces  of  that  method  of  exposition, 
which,  in  the  schools  that  arose  about  this  time,  became 
ultimately  the  prevalent  one. 


MALACHI 

The  a  burden  of  the  word  of  the  Lord  to  Israel  by  l 
b  Malachi. 

I  have  loved  you,  saith  the  Lord.  Yet  ye  say,  Wherein  3 
hast  thou  loved  us  ?  c  Was  not  Esau  Jacob's  brother  ?  saith 

*  Or,  oracle  ^  Or,  my  messenger 

•^  Or,  Is  not  Esau  .  .  .  ?  yet  I  have  loved  &c. 

i.  1.  Title.  The  oracle,  &c.  Cf.  Zech.  ix.  i,  xii.  i,  and  see 
p.  285  n.     On  '  Malachi,'  also,  see  p.  285. 

2-5.  The  love  of  Yahweh  towards  Israel,  which  was  questioned 
by  some  of  Malachi's  contemporaries,  is  manifest  in  the  contrasted 
lots  of  Israel  and  Edom  :  in  vain  may  Esau's  descendants  expect 
a  restoration  of  their  ruined  country.  The  mode  of  developing 
a  subject  by  question  and  answer  is  characteristic  of  Malachi ; 
see  p.  298. 

2*.  Z  have  loved  you.  Yahweh's  love  of  His  people  is  em- 
phasized especially  in  Hosea  (iii.  i,  ix.  15,  xi.  i,  4,  xiv,  4),  and 
Deuteronomy  (iv.  37,  vii.  7,  8,  13,  x.  15,  xxiii.  5)  :  see  also  Jer. 
xxxi.  3;  I  K.  X.  9^  ;  Is,  xliii.  4,  Ixiii.  9  (cf.  the  writer's  note  on 
Dt.  vii.  8). 

Yet  ye  say,  &c.  In  order  to  introduce  the  proof  that  Yahweh 
loved  Israel,  the  prophet  represents  the  people  as  raising  an 
objection  to  the  statement,  which  he  then  proceeds  to  meet. 

2^,  3.  The  reference  is  to  Jacob  and  Esau,  not  as  individuals, 
but  as  representatives  of  the  nations  descended  from  them  ;  in 
fact,  it  is  the  nations  whom  the  prophet  has  really  in  his  mind 
(cf.  Am.  i.  II,  and  Obad.  10,  where  the  nation,  Edom,  is  called 
Israel's  'brother,'  and  Obad.  6,  where  'Esau'  stands  for  Edom, 
just  as  '  Jacob '  often  in  poetry  stands  for  Israel).  This  sense  is 
better  brought  out  by  RVm.,  Is  not  Esau  Jacob's  brother  .  .  .  ? 
yet  I  have  loved  Jacob,  but  Esau  I  have  hated,  than  by  RV. 
(  =  AV.)  IFas  not . . .  ?  (There  is  no  verb  for  either  '  Was '  or  '  Is ' 
in  the  Heb.).  Israel  and  Edom  were  two  neighbouring  nations, 
sprung,  according  to  tradition,  from  twin-brethren  according 
to  the  flesh  :  standing  thus  in  the  same  relation  to  Yahweh,  it 
might  have  been  expected  that  they  would  have  been  treated  by 


300  MALACHI    1.  3 

3  the  Lord  :  yet  I  loved  Jacob ;  but  Esau  I  hated,  and 
made  his  mountains  a  desolation,  and  gave  his  heritage 

Him  similarly.  But  in  point  of  fact,  while  Yahweh  loved  Jacob, 
he  '  hated,'  or  had  no  care  for  '  Esau  * ;  and  the  prophet  refers  to 
some  recent  desolation  of  the  territory  of  Edom  in  proof  of  his 
statement.  The  desolation  referred  to  is  probably  the  invasion  of 
Edom  by  Nat)ataean_-Arabs,  which  obliged  the  Edomites  to 
evacuate  their  own  territory  and  find  new  settlements  in  the 
south  of  Judah  (which  was  ever  afterwards  called  '  Idumaea ' ; 
so  e.g.  in  the  N.T.,  as  Mark  iii.  8).  The  exact  date  of  this 
invasion  is  not  known ;  apart  from  the  evidence  supplied  by  the 
present  passage  {c.  460  b.  c),  we  only  know  that  it  must  have 
been  before  B.C.  312,  in  which  year  Antigonus  (p.  231),  having 
driven  Ptolemy  Lagi  out  of  Coele-Syria,  sent  an  expedition 
against  the  Nabataeans,  who  were  already  settled  in  Petra  (Diod. 
xix.  94-100;  Schurer,  i.  612  [Eng.  Tr.  i.  2.  349]).  Nothing  is 
known  of  a  desolation  of  Edom  by  the  Chaldaeans  at  the  time  of 
the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  in  586,  which  is  supposed  by  some 
commentators  to  be  referred  to;  besides,  the  nature  of  the  allusion 
requires  some  occurrence  more  nearly  within  the  prophet's  own 
time. 

The  ground  of  Yahweh's  diflferent  treatment  of  the  two  nations 
is  to  be  found  naturally  in  their  different  dispositions  and  religious 
aptitudes.  We  know  indeed  few  details  of  the  religion  of  Edom 
vsee  Ndldeke's  art.  '  Edom  '  in  EB.)  ;  but  so  far  as  we  can 
gather,  the  Edomites  were  a  worldly,  unspiritual  people,  as  they 
were  certainly  in  character  fierce,  undisciplined,  and  turbulent 
(cf.  Jos.  BJ.  iv.  4,  I  ;  V.  i).  A  border-nation  to  the  Hebrews,  allied 
closely  by  race,  and  speaking  probably  (for  no  Edomite  inscrip- 
tions have  hitherto  been  found)  almost  the  same  language,  the 
Edomites  were  in  genius  and  character, — and,  as  history  proved, 
ultimately  also  in  destiny, — utterly  diverse  from  the  Hebrews. 
Israel  was  the  nation  which  had  the  higher  and  truer  religious 
instincts,  and  was  thus  the  better  fitted  to  be  Yahweh's  *  servant  * 
(Is.  xli.  8,  xliv.  I,  &c.),  and  to  be  Moved'  by  Him.  It  was  thus 
'a  true  instinct  which  led  Israel  to  regard  their  "brother"  as 
representative  of  that  heathendom  against  which  they  had  to 
realize  their  destiny  in  the  world  as  God's  own  nation'  (Smith, 
P'  350)'  The  antagonism  between  the  two  nations  often  found 
expression  not  only  in  war,  but  also  in  mutual  recriminations  and 
jealousies:  cf.  Am.  i.  11  ;  Obad.  10-14,  Fzek.  xxxv.  5,  10,  12,  13, 
and  Ps.  cxxxvii.  7  allusions  to  Edom's  unfriendliness  at  the  time 
when  Jerusalem  was  taken  by  the  Chaldaean?'^  •  J'er.  xlix.  7-22 ; 
Lam.  iv.  21,  22:  Is.  xxxiv,  Ixiii.  t  6.  Mala  I's  appeal  to  the 
disaster  which  had  lately  befallen  Edom,  as     roof  of  Yahweh's 


MALACHI    1.  4-6  301 

to  the  jackals  of  the  wilderness.  ^  Whereas  Edom  saith,  4 
We  are  ^  beaten  down,  but  we  will  return  and  build  the 
waste  places ;  thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  I'hey  shall 
build,  but  I  will  throw  down  :  and  men  shall  call  them 
The  border  of  wickedness,  and  The  people  against  whom 
the  Lord  hath  indignation  for  ever.  And  your  eyes  shall  5 
see,  and  ye  shall  say,  The  Lord  c  be  magnified  ^  beyond 
the  border  of  Israel. 

A  son  honoureth  his  father,  and  a  servant  his  master :  6 

*  Or,  Though  Edom  say 

•*  Or,  as  otherwise  read,  impoverished 

•^  Or,  isgjrat  ^  Or,  over 

regard  for  Israel,  was  thus  one  eminently  adapted  to  evoke  an 
immediate  response  in  the  hearts  of  his  fellow  countrymen. 

Mai.  i.  2^,  3"  is  quoted  by  St.  Paul  in  Rom.  ix.  13,  also  with 
reference  to  the  contrasted  religious  experiences  of  the  two 
nations  :  see  Sanday-Headlam.  Commentary  on  the  Epistle  to  the 
Roma^ts,  pp.  245  ff.  ;  and  Gore,  The  Argument  oj  Romans  i.v-xi  in 
Studim^iblica ,  iii.  37  ff. 

3.  jackals.  Often  mentioned  as  haunting  deserted  sites ; 
of.  Is.  xiii.  22.  xxxiv.  13,  and  Jeremiah's  expression  '  a  dwelling- 
place  of  jackals,'  ix.  11,  x.  22,  xlix.  33,  li.  37.  Packs  of  jackals  still 
do  the  same  in  Syria;  for  instance,  about  the  ruins  of  Baalbek 
(Tristram,  NHB.  iii). 

4,  5.  Even  though  Edom  rebuild  its  ruined  homes,  Yahweh 
will  destroy  them  ;  and  men  will  recognize  that  He  is  supreme 
even  beyond  Israel's  own  land. 

4.  Wbereas.    Rather,  If,  or  (RVm.)  Though. 

beaten  down.  This  sense  is  established  by  the  Syr.  rash  : 
cf.  Jer.  V.  17.     RVm.  (  =  AV.)  may  be  disregarded. 

The  border  (i.  e.  territory)  of  wickedness.  The  lasting  desola- 
tion of  Edom  will  be  evidence  in  men's  eyes  of  the  wickedness  of 
its  inhabitants,  and  of  God's  anger  as  resting  upon  it.  For  the 
expression,  'men  shall  call'  (i.  e.  give  a  name,  as  witness  to  a  fact), 
cf.  Is.  Ix.  14,  Ixi.  6,  Ixii.  12. 

5.  and  ye :  the  pronoun  is  emphatic. 

Yahweh  is  great  RVm.)  beyond  the  border  of  Israel.  An 
ascription  of  praise  to  Yahweh,  whose  power  is  thus  shown  to  be 
not  limited  to  the  territory  of  His  own  people. 

i.  6— ii.  9.  The  prophet  turns  to  address  the  priests,  who  do 
not  pay  Yahweh  the  honour  and  reverence  which  are  His  due  : 
they  allbw  blemished  and  inferior  animals  to  be  presented  upon 


302  MALACHI   1.   7,  8 

if  then  I  be  a  father,  where  is  mine  honour  ?  and  if  I  be 
a  master,  where  is  my  fear?  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts 
unto  you,  O  priests,  that  despise  my  name.     And  ye  say, 

7  Wherein  have  we  despised  thy  name  ?  Ye  offer  polluted 
bread  upon  mine  altar.  And  ye  say,  Wherein  have  we 
polluted  thee  ?  In  that  ye  say,  The  table  of  the  Lord  is 

8  contemptible.     And  when  ye  offer  the  blind  for  sacrifice. 


the  altar  ;  and  the  service  of  Yahweh  is  in  consequence  brought 
into  contempt  (i.  6-14).  The  priests  are  unworthy  of  their 
ancestry  :  unless  they  amend  their  ways  Yahweh  will  send 
a  curse  upon  them,  and  make  them  contemptible  before  all  the 
people  (,ii.  1-9). 

6.  The  prophet  begins  by  stating  two  principles  to  which 
every  one  will  naturally  assent :  the  application  to  the  priests 
appears  only  afterwards,  and  comes  as  a  surprise. 

A  son,  &c.     Cf.  the  Fifth  Commandment. 

and  a  servant  his  master.  We  should  probably,  with  LXX, 
insert  feareth  after  '  a  servant ' :  the  second  clause  w;71.  then 
exactly  correspond  to  the  fourth,  as  the  first  clause  dcv^nsJ  the 
third. 

O  priests,  that  despise  my  name.  The  application,  made 
forcibly,  and  with  a  startling  epithet  attached.  Yahweh's  name 
is  '  despised '  by  the  indifference  and  irreverence  with  which  His 
services  were  maintained. 

And  ye  say,  &c.  The  priests  are  supposed  to  be  surprised 
at  the  imputation,  and  to  ask  for  an  explanation  of  it. 

7.  polluted:  viz.,  as  the  third  clause  in  the  verse  shows,  by 
the  disrespect  with  which  they  treated  the  services  of  the  altar. 

bread:  i.e.  sacrificial  flesh, — an  archaic  expression,  retained 
from  the  time  when  the  sacrifice  was  actually  regarded  as  the 
'bread'  or  food  of  the  Deity.  Cf.  Lev.  iii.  11,  16,  and  (in  the 
'  Law  of  Holiness ')  xxi.  6,  8,  17.  21,  22,  xxii.  25  ;  Ez.  xliv.  7. 

polluted  thee.  Perhaps,  with  LXX,  Marti,  we  should  read 
'  polluted  jV,'  i.  e.  the  '  bread.' 

In  that  ye  say,  &c. :  viz.,  not  in  so  many  words,  but  virtually, 
by  treating  Yahweh's  table  with  irreverence. 

The  table :  i.  e.  the  altar,  as  Ez.  xli.  22,  xliv.  16.  The 
reference  is  not  to  the  *  table  '  of  the  shew-bread. 

8.  They  are  content  to  sacrifice  to  Yahweh,  against  the  Law 
(Lev.  xxii.  20,  21^-24,  in  the  'Law  of  Holincf::';  T>t.  -rrl  i), 
blemished  or  imperfect  animals,  such  as  thei.  own  I'ersian 
governor  would  not  think  of  accepting  as  a  present,       n  blind 


MALACHI    1.  9,  lo  303 

it  as  no  evil  :  and  when  ye  offer  the  lame  and  sick,  it  is 
no  evil !  Present  it  now  unto  thy  governor ;  will  he  be 
pleased  with  thee  ?  or  will  he  accept  thy  person  ?  saith  the 
Lord  of  hosts.  And  now,  I  pray  you,  intreat  the  favour  9 
of  God,  that  he  may  be  gracious  unto  us  :  this  hath  been 
^  by  your  means :  will  he  ^'  accept  any  of  your  persons  ? 
saith  the  Lord  of  hosts.  Oh  that  there  were  one  among  10 
you  that  would  shut  the  doors,  that  ye  might  not  kindle 
*  }\eh.  from  your  hand.  ^  Or,  accept  any  because  of  you 

and  lame   there   may   be    reminiscences  of  Dt.  xv.  21  (of  the 
firstlings). 

it  is  no  evil !  i.  e.  You  say,  There  is  no  harm  in  it,  it  does 
not  signify. 

thy  g-overnor:  the  pe/i ah,  or  Persian  governor,  of  Judah  ; 
see  on  Hag,  i.  r. 

be  pleased  with  thee :  perhaps  with  it  (LXX  [codd.  AQl  ; 
We.,  Now.,  Marti  would  be  better  :  cf.  w.  10,  13  '  accept '  (the 
offering),  ii.  i3*>  (•  with  acceptance-).  The  Hebrew  for  'be  pleased 
with'  is  the  same  as  that  rendered  'accept,'  vv.  10,  13,  and  in 
the  passive  '  be  accepted.'  Lev.  i.  4,  vii.  18,  xix.  7,  xxii.  23,  25,  27 
cf.  cognate  words,  vv.  19,  20,  21,  29 ;  Lev.  i.  3,  xix.  5).  '  To  be 
pleased '  or  '  favourable  '  is  the  proper  meaning  of  the  word. 

accept  thy  person :  h't.  '  hft  up  thy  face,' — a  common  Heb. 
Igure  for  'receive  favourably,'  meaning  properly,  lift  up  the  face 
cf  a  suppliant :  see  e.  g.  i  S.  xxv.  35.  The  opposite  expression 
is  '  turn  back  the  face,'  i  K.  ii.  i6. 

9.  intreat  the  favour,  &c.  The  close  of  this  verse  and  v.  10 
seem  to  Show  that  the  words  are  meant,  not  as  a  serious  exhorta- 
tion to  repentance  (Hitz.,  We.,  Now.),  but  ironically  (Keil, 
Oelli,  Marti)  :  since  your  governor  will  not  accept  such  offerings, 
eitreat  God's  favour,  and  see  whether  He  will ! 

this:  the  presenting  of  such  unworthy  offerings  (vv.  7,  8*). 
For  from  your  hand  (marg.),  cf.  'at  i^Heb.  from)  your  hand,' 
vii  I  ',  13,  ii.  13  ;  and  Is.  i.  12. 
'  s  ry  of  your  persons.  The  marg.  is  less  probable. 
kO.  Better  that  the  Temple  were  shut  up  altogether  than  that 
such  sacrifices,  presented  in  such  a  spirit,  should  be  offered  on  itl 
The  v/ish  is  of  course  intended  ironically. 

'  the  doors.  Not  the  doors  of  the  Temple  itself  fthe  only  altar 
in  vhich  was  the  altar  of  incense,  in  the  Holy  Place),  but  the 
doors  of  the  gates  (i  Chr.  xxii.  3;  also,  of  a  city-gate,  J  ud  xvi.  3  a/.) 
If  ading  into  the  inner  court,  in  which  the  altar  of  burnt-offering 
stood. 


304  MALACHI    1.  ir 

fire  on  mine  altar  in  vain  !  I  have  no  pleasure  in  you, 

saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  neither  will  I  accept  an  offering 

1 1  at  your  hand.     For  from  the  rising  of  the  sun  even  unto 

in  vain  :  i.  e.  to  no  purpose,  because  viz.  the  sacrifices  offered 
upon  the  altar  were  not  accepted  by  Yahweh, 

accept.  Properly  {v.  8),  be  favourable  to :  the  word  used 
with  reference  to  sacrifices  in  Lev.  i.  4,  vii.  18,  &c.  (cited  on  v.  8), 
Ps.  li.  i6b. 

an  offering*.    Heb.  minhdh,  properly  a.  comphmentary  present. 
or  a  present  made  to  secure  or  retain  goodwill  (Gen.  xxxii.  13.  20, 
xliii.  II ;  Jud.  iii.  15,  17),  or  as  a  mark  of  allegiance  (i  S.  x.  27), 
offered,  as  something  expected,  by  a  political  subject  (2  S.  viii. 
2,  6 ;    2  K.  xvii.  3,  4  al.);    then  of  a  tribute  offered   to   God, 
both  generally  (including  animals),  Gen.  iv.  3,  4,  5,  i  S.  ii.  T7, 
29,  iii.  14,  xxvi.  19,  and  specifically  (as  always  in  the  Pries ! 
Code  of  the  Pentateuch)  of  the  'meal-'  or  cereal-offering  (e 
Lev.  ii;  and  repeatedly  in  Nu.  xxviii-xxix).     As  the  word,  \^:<t 
used   of  a   sacrifice,    has   this    double   sense,    it    is   not   always: 
certain  which  is  intended ;    hence  there  are   many  passages  ir 
which,  where   RV.  has   '  offering '   or  '  oblation '  in  the  text, 
has  'Or,   meal-offering''  on  the  margin   (e.g.   Am.   v.   25;    J 
xiv.  12;    Ps.  XX.  3:   see  further  DB.,  s.v.  '  Offerixg,'  4).     O; 
the  whole,  however,  in  non-technical  passages,  or  where  then 
is  nothing  to  suggest  the  limitation  to  'meal-offerings,'  th  j  pre 
sumption  is  that  it  is  used  in  the  general  sense  of  'offering'  o 
'oblation':   so,  for  instance,  Is.  i.  13,  xix.  21,  and  here,  as  y.\i - 
in  the  sequel,  vv.   11.   13  [where  clearly  animals  are  inclnci"  ' 
ii.  12,  13,  iii.  3,  4. 

11,  12.  The  reason  for  v.  lo^      Yahweh  has  no  pleas  irc- 
Israel's  offerings  (v.  10^),  for,  while  He  is  honoured  arao  ig 
Gentiles  {v.   11),    Israel  dishonours   Him    {v.    12).      The  a«  t 
reason  for  v.  lo**  is  given  in  v.  12,  v.  11  being  introduced  mer-- 
to  bring  out  the  contrast  between  the  reverence  shown  by  1 
Gentiles  and  the  irreverence  of  Israel.     Malachi  must  have  n-.c:^- 
nized  a  spirit  of  monotheism  in  heathen  religions,  and  allowed 
that  offerings  rendered  to  a  God  recognized  as  one  were  rend       I 
to  Yahweh.     He  may  have  generalized  from  the  doctrines  ol  •  c 
Persian  religion,  which  were  certainly  purer  and  more  spi.       .1 
than   those  of  heathenism   generally.     The  passage  is  a  triotte 
to  the  truer  and  better  side  of  heathen  religion,  a  recognition  of 
the  fact  that  '  in  every  nation  he  that  feareth  God,  and  wcr'r>.th 
righteousness,  is  acceptable  to  Him  '  (Acts  x.  35).     '  The  book  of 
Malachi   even    recognizes   in   the   religious    earnestness 
Gentiles  a  form  of  devotion  which  Yahweh  is  willing  to  ; 


MALACHI    1.  II  :,o 


O^D 


the  going  down  of  the  same  my  name  ^  is 

the  Gentiles ;  and  in  every  place  '^  incense  is  offered  unto 

*  Or,  shall  be  ^  Or,  incense  and  a  pure  oblation  ate  ojjfefed 


AV.  (whence  RVm.  'shall  be')  interpreted  the  verse  of  the 
uture ;  and  so  most  of  the  older  expositors  understood  it  to  refer 
D  'he  future  acceptance  of  Israel's  religion  by  the  nations.  But 
ihough  of  course  this  thought  would  be  in  harmony  with  what 
is  taught  elsewhere  by  the  prophets  (see  on  Zech.  ii.  ii),  it 
can  hardly  be  expressed  here.  There  being  no  verb  expressed 
in  the  Heb.,  a'lai  *t3c  "Jiu  can  only  be  naturally  rendered  'My 
name  is  great  among  the  Gentiles'  ;  inasmuch  further  as  vv.  ii, 
12  plainly  give  a  reason  ('  For ')  for  the  disapproval  expressed 
in  V.  IO^  they  must  describe  a  condition  of  things  existing  in 
the  prophet's  own  present ;  the  contrast  between  what  is  done 
at  the  time  by  the  Jews  in  v.  is  with  what  is  done  elsewhere  in 
I'.  II  points  to  the  same  conclusion.  Notice  also  the  exactly 
,sifnilar  words  in  v.  14,  '  And  my  name  is  feared  among  the 
/  iGcntiles,'  where  no  one  has  ever  thought  of  rendering  by  a  future. 
Hence  it  is  extremely  difficult  to  think  that  v.  11  can  refer  to  any 
time  except  the  prophet's  own  present. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  urged  that  the  expression,  *  my  name,^ 

':pposes  the  Divine  revelation,  and  cannot  refer  to  an  un- 

-oub  worship.       Hence  Ewald,    Kirkpatrick   (p,   505),    and 

..V   s,  whi!*^  ag  eeing  that  the  passage  relates  to  the  present, 

:mpi  >se  the  reference  to  be  to  the  Jews  of  the  Dispersion,  who, 

scat!  :red  through  the  world,  rendered  by  their  offerings  of  prayer 

^nd  .jraise  a  more  acceptable  service  to  Yahweh  than  the  careless 

priet'.s  in  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem,  and  that  thus  Yahweh's  name 

was  magnified  among  the  heathen  more  than  in  His  own  Temple 

and  in  the  city  of  His  choice.    The  contrast  would  then  be  between 

the  faithful  Jews  of  the  Dispersion  and  the  lax  and  indifferent 

Jew.;  of  the  capital.      It  is  some  objection  to  this  interpretation 

tliat  it  requires   'incense'   and   'offering'   to  be  understood  in 

■ritual  sense,  of  prayer  (Ps.  cxli.  2 ;  Rev.  v.  8,  viii.  3),  and 

5.e  (Ps.  1.  14 ;  Heb.  xiii.  15  ;  i  Pet.  ii.  5),  or  self-dedication 

Aom.  xii.   i),   which  is  not  very  natural  where  Jews  are  the 

fferers,  and  where  there  is  nothing,  as  in  the  passages  quoted,  to 

suggest  that  the  terms  are  used  in  such  a  sense.     Perhaps  also 

the  argument  founded  on  '  my  name  '   lays  rather  too  much  stress 

upon  this  particular  expression. 

incense  is  offered,  &c.  It  is  difficult  to  see  how  RVm. 
diffei-s  from  RV.  (-- AV.),  except  in  the  order  of  words  ('oblation  ' 
is  substituted  for  '  offering '  on  account  no  doubt  of  the  proximitj' 
ot*    'offering'.      The    Heb.    is,    however,    bomevvhat    peculiar: 


3o6  ISIALACHI    1.  la 

my  name,  and  a  pure  offering  :  for  my  namk  *ib  grei 

2  among  the  Gentiles,  saith  the  Lord  of  hobts.     But  y 

profane  it,  in  that  ye  say,  The  table  of  the  Lord  . 

polluted,  and  the  fruit  thereof,  even  his  meat,  is  con 

»  Or,  shall  be 

the  subst.  rendered   'incense'    does   not   occur   cr^ewhere,   an 
Ewald  and  Keil,  taking  it  as  a  ptcp.,  construe  different^ ',  bu 
obtain   the   same   general   sense.     We.,  Now.,  A^arti,   however 
think  that  *  it  is  offered  '  is  a  gloss  on  '  it  is  incensed  {or  burnt), 
and  omitting  a  i,  render,  'and  a  pure  offering  is  burnt  unto  m> 
name,' — the  word  rendered  '  burnt '  being  the  one  regularly  used  of 
consuming  the  sacrifices  on  the  altar  (Lev.  i.  9,  &c.),  and  meaning 
properly  made  into  sweet  smoke  (^Kvlarf). 

a  pure  offering".     Heb.  utitihdh,  to  be  understood  in  the  same 
sense  as  in  v.  10.     *  Pure,'  as  unsullied  by  irreverence,  like  the 
sacrifices  offered  in  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem  {vv.  7,  12),  or  by  anj, 
ungodly  spirit  in  the  offerers  (2  Tim.  ii.  22).  '|a 

From  Justin  (c.  Tryph.  §  41,  cf.  §  117)  and  Irenaeus  (iv.  17.  5 
onwards,  it  has  often  been  supposed  that  this  passage  of  Malach 
is  prophetic  of  the  Eucharistic  offering,  to  which,  it  is  also  pointec 
out,  niinJidh,  in  the  sense  of  a  meal-offering,  would  be  entirel^f 
appropriate.  As  we  have  seen,  however,  the  context  seems 
plainly  to  show  that  the  reference  is  to  offerings  made  in  Malachi's 
own  time ;  and  secondly,  when  minhdh  has  been  usee  ji:st  before 
(y.  10),  and  is  used  again  just  after  {v.  13),  in  a  continuou"s  argu- 
ment, in  its  wider  sense  of  sacrifices  in  general  (inclu'ding  animal 
sacrifices),  it  is  not  consistent  with  sound  exegesis  to  understand 
it  differently  in  this  one  \«erse. 

12,  13.  In  contrast  to  the  honour  which  the  heathen  thus 
render  to  Yahweh,  the  priests  of  Israel  ^whonour  Him,  treating 
His  worship  with  disrespect  and  contempt. 

12.  in  that  ye  say,  &c.  As  in  v.  7,  not  literally,  but  by 
irreverence  towards  Yahweh's  altar  and  offerings. 

and  the  fruit  thereof,  &c.  If  correct,  *  fruit '  (a':,  a  rare 
word,  Is.  Ivii.  19)  will  be  a  figure  for  'offerings.'  But  the  figure 
is  a  strange  one  :  the  Heb.  construction  is  forced  ;  and  most 
probably  m^:  is  simply  an  incorrect  anticipation  of  the  following 
nja:  (W.  R.  Smith,  Now.,  &c.).  Render  then,  and  his  food  is 
contemptible.  *  Meat'  in  AV.  is  here  used  in  its  now  obsolete 
sense  noticed  on  Hab.  i.  16.  \ 
, , V 

'  *  It  (impcrs.)  is  incensed,  it  is  offered,  arid  that  (with)  a'purc 
ofTering.' 


MALACHI    1.  13,  14  307 


ptible.  Me  say  also,  Behold,  what  a  weariness  is  it !  13 
and  ye  have  snuffed  at  it,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts  ;  and  ye 
!ir,^  e  brought  that  which  was  taken  by  violence,  and  the 
lame,  and  the  sick  ;  thus  ye  bring  the  offering  :  should  I 
accept  this  of  your  hand  ?  saith  the  Lord.  But  cursed  14 
be  the  deceiver,  which  hath  in  his  flock  a  male,  and 
voweth,  and  sacrificeth  unto  the  Lord  a  blemished  thing  : 

13.  what  a  weariness  is  it!  What  a  trouble  the  service  of 
the  sanctuary  is ! 

and  ye  have,  &c.  Present  tenses  would  be  better  :  and  ye 
puff  .  .  .  and  ye  briug*. 

puff  at  it.  I.  e.  contemn  it.  For  the  figure  cf.  Ps.  x.  5,  xii. 
5  (where  the  Heb.  word  is  almost  the  same)  ;  and  the  note  on 
Hag.  i.  9.  *  It'  will  refer  to  the  '  altar,'  v.  12.  The  passage  is, 
however,  one  of  the  eighteen  '  corrections  of  the  scribes '  (see  on 
Hab.  i.  12),  and  'me  '  (which  is  found  in  some  MSS.)  is  said  to 
have  been  the  original  reading  for  '  it ' ;  and  perhaps  Now.,  Marti, 
and  others  are  right  in  adopting  this.  *  Snuff'  is  an  archaism  for 
'sniff'  ;  but  'puff,'  or  'blow,'  is  the  idea  which  the  Heb.  word 
expresses. 

and  ye  bringr  that  which  hath  been  taken  by  violence 
(■  robbed).  Treating  therefore  Yahweh  with  contempt,  as  though 
He  cared  so  little  what  was  offered  to  Him  that  He  would  even 
accept  this.  There  is,  however,  an  awkwardness  in  the  Heb., 
which  makes  it  possible  that  we  should  read  (We.,  Now.,  «/.) 
'  and  ye  bring  the  blind'' ;  cf.  v.  8. 

thus  ye  bring-  the  offering.  The  clause  is  much  improved 
if,  with  We.,  we  make  a  very  slight  change  (nn:n  in«  for  rin:on  nw), 
ard  -ead,  and  ye  bring  it  as  an  offering". 

of  your  hand.     '  Of  is  here  an  archaism  for  '  from '  :  cf.  Ex. 

/i.  3 ;  John  iv.  22  (AV.) ;  2  Cor.  v.  i  (AV.),  &c.  See  '  Of '  in  DB. 
x4.  The  prophet  closes  the  paragraph  with  an  indignant 
rebuke,  addressed  to  the  laity,  who  also,  like  the  priests,  failed  in 
treating  Yahweh  with  becoming  reverence.  A  vow  was  made; 
and  the  vow  was  redeemed  by  offering  a  sickly  or  inferior 
animal.  Naturally,  the  priests  also  were  to  blame  for  allowing 
such  sacrifices  to  be  presented. 

the  i  eceiver.     Or,  the  fraudulent  man. 

ard  voweth.  I.  e.  and  voweth  it  (LXX,  Now.,  Smith,  &c.). 
<I^.*  vow'  was  a  promise  to  offer  something  to  Yahweh  in  case 
sov  f  prayer  or  wish  were  granted  (Gen.  xxviii.  ao-22  ;  Jud,  xi. 
31  ;  Ps.  Ixvi.  13-14).  According  to  the  'Law  of  Holiness  '  (the 
older  legislation  embedded  in  Lev.  xvii-xxvi),  an  animal  offered 

%    2 


3o8  MALACHI   2.  1-3        ( 

for  I  am  a  great  king,  saith  the  Lord  of  l;iosts,  and  my 
name  is  terrible  among  the  Gentiles.  1 

2  And  now,  O  ye  priests,  this  commandment  is  for  you. 

3  If  ye  will  not  hear,  and  if  ye  will  not  lay  it  to  heart,  to 
give  glory  unto  my  name,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  then 
will  I  send  the  curse  upon  you,  and  I  will  curse  your 
blessings :  yea,  I  have  cursed  them  already,  because  ye 

3  do  not  lay  it  to  heart.     Behold,  I  will  rebuke  *  the  seed 
*  According  to  some  ancient  versions,  your  amt. 

as  a  burnt-offering  in  payment  of  a  vow  had  to  be  a  male  (Lev. 
xxii.  18-20),  in  the  case  of  one  offered  similarly  as  a  peace-offering 
there  was  no  such  restriction  (ib.  v.  21) :  in  either  case,  however, 
the  animal  had  to  be  without  blemish  or  imperfection  {vv.  19,  20, 
21^  22-24).  Here,  a  male,  the  more  valuable  animal,  was 
promised,  but  when  the  time  for  paying  the  vow  came,  an  inferior 
or  blemished  animal  was  substituted  for  it. 

a  blemislied  thing'.  Heb.  a  corrupt  thing, — cognate  with  the 
word  rendered  '  corruption '  in  Lev.  xxii.  25. 

for  Z  am  a  great  king.  And  not  therefore  to  be  treated 
with  such  disrespect. 

and  terrible,  &c.  Or,  feared  {v.  6),  reverenced  among  the 
Oentiles;  and  how  much  more,  therefore,  to  be  reverenced  among 
My  own  people ! 

ii.  1-9.  In  thus  acting  the  priests  have  shown  themselves 
unworthy  of  their  ancestry :  unless  they  alter  their  ways,  and 
treat  Him  with  the  respect  that  is  His  due,  Yahweh  will  send 
His  curse  upon  them ;  and  they  will  be  openly  disgraced  in  the 
sight  of  all  the  people. 

And  now,  unto  you  (emph. )  pertaineth  this  commandment, 
O  priests.  The  'commandment,'  or  charge,  is  apparently  the 
commandment  to  reform,  implicit  in  vv.  2,  3  :  cf.  v.  ^^. 

2.  to  give  glory  (or  honour, — as  i.  6,  and  in  the  Fifth  Com- 
mandment) unto  my  name.  L  e.  to  render  it  the  reverence  and 
respect  which  are  its  due. 

Z  will  send  upon  you  the  curse.  As  Dt.  xxvni.  20,  'which 
is  probably  alluded  to. 

your  blessings.     As  Dt.  xxviii.  2, — here  more  pa-'t  cula-lv  nf 
the  privileges  and  advantages  bestowed  by  Yah wehi' upon 
priesthood. 

yea,  Z  luwe  cursed  them  already.  The  curse  has  air  dy 
begun. 

3.  The  httwiiliatvon  and  disgrace,  which  will  fall  upon      > 


LACHI    2.  4  309 

lor  your  sake,  and  will  5  pread  dung  upon  your  faces,  even 
the  dung  of  your  ^  sacrijfices  ;  and  ye  shall  be  taken  away 
^with  it.  And  ye  shall  know  that  I  have  sent  this  command-  4 
*  Or,  Jfeasfs  ^  Or,  tinto 

1  will  rebnke  yoiar  seed '.  I.  e.  prevent  your  seed  from 
springing  up  or  comin©  to  maturity,  make  your  field  unfruitful. 
But  as  the  priests  did  not  practise  agriculture,  such  a  threat  would 
not  have  any  special  significance  for  them.  Hence  nearly  all 
moderns,  including  everi  Keil,  changing  merely  the  vowel-points, 
read,  with  LXX,  Aq.,  Vulg.,  as  RVm.  rebnke  your  arm.incapacitate 
you  for  performing  your  duties  in  the  sanctuary.  But  it  is  quite 
possible  that  we  should  make  a  further  correction,  and  read  (with 
We.,  Now.,  Marti)  n2  for  nra :  behold,  Z  will  hew  off  your  arm, — 
a  forcible  figure  for  depriving  them  entirely  of  their  power,  their 
position,  and  their  authority.  Cf.  especially  i  S.  ii.  31,  where  the 
same  figure  (render  '  hew '  for  '  cut ')  is  used  to  express  the  humili- 
ation about  to  come  upon  Eli's  house. 

and  will  spread  offal  npon  yonr  faces.  A  still  greater 
insult  and  indignity.  The  'ofl'al'  meant  is  that  which  was 
removed  from  the  animals  ofi*ered  in  sacrifice,  and  either  thrown 
away,  or  (in  the  case  of  the  sin-off*ering  burnt :  Ex.  xxix.  14  : 
Lev,  iv.  II,  xvi.  27  (where  the  Heb.  word  is  the  same). 

sacrifices.  Better,  pilgrrimaeres  (Ex.  xxi'i.  14-17  l  ic-e 
p.  140  w.):  the  V  ord  scarcely,  either  here  or  in  Ex.  xxiii.  i8*>, 
actually  menrs  th  ^  *  sacrifices  '  offered  at  them. 

with  it.  T  's  possible  X  J  OS.  xiii.  22,  Lam.  iii.  41,  Heb.), 
though  RVm.  nn*  \,  ir;  the  more  obvious  rendering.  The  priests, 
who  had  dishor.uu.cd  Yahweh's  offerings,  th-  n?e'vo^  r-on-  be- 
spattered with  the  offal  o/'  the  sacrifices,  will  be  taken  off"  ignomini- 
ously  to  the  place  whf  re  it  is  thrown  away  as  refuse. 

4.  When  this  disgrace  falls  upon  them,  they  will  know  (i.  e. 
realize)  that  ^ahwch  had  sent  this  charge  {v.  i)  unto  them,  in 
order  that  His  ancient  covenant  with  the  tribe  of  Levi  might  stand 
fast  ''ie.'  it  seems,  must  here  have  the  force  of  continue  or 
be  f>i  'irtt^'^ffi'  For  the  '  covenant '  with  Levi,  i.  e.  the  conditions 
of  holiness,  separation  to  Yahweh,  and  faithfulness  in  the  dis- 
charge «>f  ^^^eir  duties,  under  which  the  tribe  of  Levi  possessed  the 
priesthood,  cf.  Dt.  xxxiii.  9  (in  the  '  Blessing  '  attributed  to  Moses), 
Ter   «txiii.  21. 


•u.  •  for  your  sake  ' :    the  7  in  03?  is  the  "?  of  reference  {lit 

_.. .,     :he  seed  for  you  '),  often  used  idiomatically  in  such  phrases  : 

<;ee  (     •  11.  12,  iii.  1 1  (second  and  third  clauses\  Lev.  xxvi.  5  (///.  '  the 

thre     n,r  shall  reach  for  you  '),  26  ('when  I  break  for  you'),  1  K.  xiv. 

cut  off  for  Jeroboam  '\  al.  (Lex.  512''). 


310  MALACHI    2JK  6 

ment  unto  you,  that  my  covenai^Jt  might  be  with  L^vi, 

5  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts.  My  co^Venant  was  with  hi:n  of 
life  and  peace;  and  I  gave  them'^to  him  that  he  might 
fear,  and  he  feared  me,  and  stood '  in  awe  of  my      me. 

6  The  law  of  truth  was  in  his  mouth,"  and  unrighteousness 

I.evi.  I.e.  the  tribe  of  Levi,  the  prieistly  tribe. 
The  expressions  '  Levi/  here  and  y.  8,  ^nd  *  sons  of  Levi '  (iii. 
3),  are  noticeable.  In  the  Pentateuch  the  term  '  Levite '  or 
'  sons  of  Levi '  is  used  in  two  senses, — reflecting,  as  can  hardly  be 
doubted,  tv^ro  different  stages  in  the  history-  of  the  priesthood.  In 
Deuteronomy  it  is  applied  to  ail  members  of  the  tribe  without 
distinction  ;  and  every  '  Levite,'  i.  e.  every  member  of  the  tribe, 
possesses  de  jure  priestly  rights,  and  may  exercise  them,  if  he 
comes  to  reside  at  the  central  sanctuary  (Dt.  xviii.  6  f.  ;  see  further 
the  writer's  Commentary  on  Dent.  pp.  213  ff.,  219  f. ;  or  W.R.Smith, 
OTJC?  pp.  358  fT.,  383  f.).  In  P  the  priesthood  is  rigidly  limited 
to  the  descendants  of  Aaron;  and  the  term  *  Levite'  is  applied  to 
inferior  members  of  the  tribe,  who  are  assigned  various  subordi- 
nate duties  in  connexion  virith  the  sanctuary  (Nu.  iii-iv),  but  are 
strictly  forbidden  to  intrude  upon  the  office  of  priest  (Nu.  iv.  20,  xvi. 
7''-ii,  40).  Thus  in  Deuteronomy  the  distinctive  title  of  the  priests 
is  'the  priests  t^e  Levites '  (or  <  the  sons  of  Levi'),  i.e.  the  Levitical 
priests  (xvii.  9,  18,  xviii.  i,  xxi.  5,  xxiv,  8,  xxvii.  9,  xxxi.  9)  :  in 
P  it  is  'the  sons  of  Aaron'  (Lev.  i.  5,  and  often).  Malachi  thus 
follows,  here,  v.  8  and  iii.  3,  the  Deuteronomic  phraseology. 
.  5.  The  conditions  of  the  covenant.  The  Heb.  is  expressed 
obscurel3'.  According  to  the  Massoretic  interpunction.  it  reads, 
<  My  covenant  was  with  him,  life  and  peace  :  and  I  gave  them  to 
him  (as)  fear,  and  he  feared  me '  :  but  thii  yields  no  satisfactory 
sense  :  RV.  *  that  he  might  fear '  is  also  too  free.  It  is  better  to 
render  :  '  My  covenant  was  with  him  :  life  ^i\d  p^^ace,  and  I  gave 
them  '=which  I  gave)  unto  him,  [and]  fear  and  he  feared  me,' 
&c.  :  the  verse  then  states  the  conditions  of  the  covena^,  on  the 
one  side  life  and  peace  (i.  e.,  in  a  broad  sense,  welfare  and 
prosperity),  promised  by  Yahweh  to  Levi;  on  the  other  side 
fear,  or  reverence,  which  in  the  past,  according  to  ^Ialachi*s 
representation,  the  priests  had  duly  rendered  Him.  For  'life' 
see  Dt.  XXX.  15 ;  for  '  peace  '  cf.  the  '  covenant  of  pea  ,e '  of 
Ez.  xxxiv.  25,  xxxvii.  26.  Is.  Irv.  10,  in  Nu.  xxv.  la  also(P  given 

;o  ^hinehas.  ,.,/.,..  "^1 

6.  How  this  tear  of  God  displayed  itself  in  thefaithfil  di&-.\arge 
of  priestly  duties. 

Tlie  law  of  truth,  &c,     Rr?'hi"r  Th/?  tllr' -tion  C:  t«acl"Vng) 
of  truth  wa«  in  his  montr.  .'en 


MALACHI    2.  7,  8  311 

i  foi.  id  ii^his  lips:  he  walked  with  me  in  peace 
::d  u^Jrighi  lessiin^d  did  turn  many  away  from  iniquity. 
I'or  'he  p"  estch'*Ps  should  keep  knowledge,  and  they  7 
shorid  seek  i^  law  at  his  mouth :  for  he  is  the  messenger 
of  the  LoF  r](of  hosts.     But  ye  are  turned  aside  out  of  the  8 
way  ;  ye  h.i  i-  caused  many  to  stumble  in  the  law ;  ye  have 

by  the  prif  ?<  to  the  laity  on  matters  of  moral  and  ceremonial  duty 
(see  en  Hal  •  4,  Hag.  ii.  11)  :  this  'direction,'  Malachi  says,  was 
formerly  gi  n  correctly  and  faithfully  by  the  priests.  Observe, 
in  s'corda  :P  with  the  proper  oral  character  of  'torah,'  how 
elsev^here  <  |o,  even  in  some  cases  in  a  non-technical  sense,  it  is 
referred  tc  h  being  in  the  '  mouth '  (v.  7,  Job  xxii.  22,  Ps.  cxix. 
7a),  or  '  nil  jhe  tongue  '  (Prov.  xxxi.  26). 

innrighjeotisness.  I.e.,  here,  'direction'  given  with  such 
laxit^  as  t.;  Dishonour  Yahweh  (cf,  on  Zeph.  iii.  4),  or  perverted 
hv  bribfiy  (Wic.  iii.  ir  ;  cf,  also  Jer.  viii.  8). 

lie  -w  alited  with  jne    Gen.  v.  22)  in  peace  and  uprigrhtness : 
e.   in  a  state  of  conttntjnent,    not  disturbed  by  jealousies,   or 
unsatisfied  :i^bitio>SE,  and  of  uprightness  in  the  discharge  of  the 
duties  of  h  s  offic^^^ 

turn  bac^fc  many   from   iniquity:    viz.    by    teaching   them 
lat  they  jught  to  do  and  avoid. 
7.  The  1  i^al  of  a  priest. 

Por  thdvlips  of  a  priest  keep  knowledge, — the  knowledge 
.  of  th :  law  (Jer.  viii.  8;,  and  in  particular  of  its  ceremonial 
servances. 

and  men  seek  direction  (v.  6)  at  his  month,  hecanse  he 
ia  Yaiiweh's  messenger  :  it  is  Yahweh's  torah  which  he  admin- 
isters. Messenger'  is  otherwise  used  of  the  priest  only  in 
Eccl.  V.  6  of.  Hag.  i.  13  (of  the  prophet).  Compare  the  eulogy 
of  the  pri'  tly  tribe  in  Dt.  xxxiii.  8-1 1,  especially  vv.  9,  10 :  'They 
keep  thy  saying,  and  observe  thy  covenant :  they  teach  (Jif. 
^rect')  Jacob  thy  judgements,  and  Israel  thy  "direction."  ' 
^.  The  reality  contrasted  with  the  ideal. 

But  ye  (emph.)  have  turned  aside  out  of  the  way  (Ex. 

i.  8.  ^ud.  ii.  17), — the  way  described  in  vv.  6,  7,  in  which  you 
U.o_L  .^  have  walked. 

ye  have  made  many  to  stumble  by  direction  not  *  in  the 
1;  vv').  '  Unrighteousness'  {v.  6)  was  on  your  lips,  and  you  have 
cuised  many  to  err  by  giving  them  false  "direction':  the  con- 
squence  is,  you  have  corrupted,  i.  e.  ruined,  destroyed,  the 
covenant  with  Levi  :  the  '  life  and  peace '  on  the  one  hand,  and 
the  '  fear '  on  the  other  {v.  6\  are  all  at  an  end.     Cf.  Neh.  xiii. 


312  MALACHI    2.  9,  4 

corrupted  the  covtinant  of  Levi,  saith  t-e  Lot  o  of  hosts. 

9  Therefore  have  I  also  made  you  conf  °  ntibl?  and  base 
before  all  the  people,  according  as  ye  .  /e  not  kejkt  my 
ways,  but  have  had  respect  of  persons  in  ik^e  Jaw. 

o      Have  we  not  all  one  father  ?  hath  not  om  God  created 


29,  where  the  priests  who  had  married  foreign  wiv^s  are  described 
as  having '  defiled  the  priesthood,  and  the  covenant  tf  Jk  priesthood 
and  of  the  Levites.' 

9.  The  retribution. 

have  Z  also.  The  'also'  (dj)  of  'corresponde.ce  *  (Ps.  h 
5;  Hos,  iv.  6:  Lex.  p.  16^)'.  I  also,  on  my  par^.,  v/ill  a,~sc: 
myself,  and  visit  you  with  condign  retribution,  't.ive  made' 
here  equivalent  to  'will  assuredly  make,' — the  actii  1,  though  i 
accomplishment  is  still  future,  being  so  fully  resolvei  upon  ti-t 
is  spoken  of  as  already  done  :  so  Gen.  xv.  18,  Jud  xv.  2  • 
Is.  xliii.  14  al.  ^ 

base:  i.e.  low,  abased,  in  position,  not  in  charaaer,  as  oti 
in  Old  English  :  cf.  Ez.  xvii.  14,  xxix.  14  ;  2  Cor.  x.  r  AV. 

accordiugr  as  ye  do  not  keep  my  ways,  but  res  ect  per  so  v 
(i.e.  show  partiality)  in  (giving)  direction.  The  pri  ts.  it  seerr 
were  open  to  bribery  (Mic.  iii.  11  'her  priesin^ dircc  for  hire" 
and,  it  may  be  supposed,  permitted  to  one  what  tlv  v  refused 
another,  or  exacted  from  some  lower  fees,  or  less  co  Uy  sacrific- 
than  they  exacted  from  others  :  legal  decisions  1  !so,  such  . 
could  easily  be  vitiated  by  unjust  interest  or  influer  :.;,  appear  i 
have  been  included  in  the  tordh  (Dt.  xvii.  8-12  ;  Ez.  xliv.  24\ 

respect  persons.     The  Heb.    expression  is  th     same  a    in 
i.  8;  but  it  is  used  here  in  a  bad  sense,  of  favourinj     u  j 
Ps.  Ixxxii.  2,  Dt.  X.  17.     However,  the  omission  of  a  let. 
an  attractive  emendation,    nor  respect   me,  which   forms 
parallel  to  the  preceding  clause. 

10-16.  Malachi  here  turns  to  rebuke  his  contemporaries  for 
a  great  social  wrong,  to  which  they  were  addicted  at  the  time, 
viz.  the  divorce  of  their  native  wives  {vv.  10,  13-16),  for  the  s^e, 
apparently  {vv.  10  end,  1 1-12),  at  least  in  some  cases,  of  contracmg 
marriages  with  foreign  women  (cf.  Ezr.  ix-x  ;  Neh.  xiii.  23-20), 
a  fashion  which  the  prophet  also  censures  at  the  same  time.  Tie 
practice  of  divorce  he  declares  to  be  an  offence  against  the  lo*e 
and  faithfulness  which  as  children  of  one  Father  they  all  owe  co 
one  another,  an  unnatural  cruelty  towards  those  who  have  been 
long  bound  to  them  by  the  ties  of  affection,  and  a  challenge  to  the 
Divine  judgement. 

10.  Yahweh  is  Israel's  father  (Dt,  xxxii.  18 ;  Is,  Ixiii.  16)  :  ve 
ttte  all,  therefore,  brothers  one  of  another  :  oup-ht  w«*  not  th^n 


MALACHI    2.  II,  12  313 

us  ?  v/hy  do  we  deal  treacherously  every  man  against  his 
brother,  profaning  the  covenant  of  our  fathers  ?  Judah  1 1 
hath  dealt  treacherously,  and  an  abomination  is  committed 
in  Israel  and  in  Jerusalem  ;  for  Judah  hath  profaned  the 
°-  holiness  of  the  Lord  which  he  loveth,  and  hath  married 
the  daughter  of  a  strange  god.     The  Lord  will  cut  off  to  1 3 

*  Or,  sanctuary 

to  treat  one  another  with  brotherly  regard,  and  not  be  faithless  to 
the  'covenant,'  by  which  (cf.  Ex.  xix.  $i.)  Yahweh  separated  us 
from  the  heathen,  and  made  us  a  people  peculiar  to  Himself? 

deal  treacherously.  Or,  faithlessly.  The  word  Is  used 
also  elsewhere  of  faithlessness  to  the  marriage  bond,  vv.  14,  15, 
16,  Ex.  xxi,  8.  Jer.  iii.  20*. 

profaningr  the  covenant  of  our  fathers.  Viz.  by  marrying 
foreign  wives,  and  thereby,  in  heedless  disregard  of  the  covenant 
by  which  Israel  was  separated  f-om  the  heathen,  imperilling  its 
distinctive  nationality  (cf.  the  prohibition  of  such  marriages, 
Ex.  xxxiv.  16,  Dt.  vii.  3f.).  ' 

11.  Judah.  The  entire  people  is  spoken  of  as  implicated  in 
the  wrong.  The  wprds  '  in  Israel  and'  should  doubtless  be  omitted  ; 
for  '  Israel '  is  here  out  of  place  :  a  scribe  probably  wrote  inad- 
vertently *  in  Israel '  as  a  natural  parallel  to  '  Judah,'  then 
discovering  his  error  he  wrote  'in  Jerusalem'  as  well,  and  the 
two  remained  in  the  text  together. 

hath  dealt  faithlessly.  Here  the  expression  is  used  not  of 
faithlessness  to  the  marriage-tie,  but  of  faithlessness  to  Yahweh 
in  discarding  Him,  at  least  constructively  (viz.  by  marrying  foreign 
women),  for  other  gods  :  cf.  Jer.  iii.  7,  8,  20^,  v.  11. 

an  abomination  is  wrousrht :  on  account  of  the  heathen 
practices  and  worships  likely  to  be  involved  :  cf.  Dt.  xiii.  14, 
xvii.  4  (the  same  phrase)  ;  Ezr.  ix.  14. 

Yahweh's  holiness  (or  holy  thingf) :  i.  e.  Israel  itself,  as  holy 
to  Yahweh.  Cf.  Jer.  ii.  3  ;  also  Ex.  xix.  6,  Dt.  vii.  6,  xiv.  2,  &c. 
Or^marg.),  Yahweh's  sanctuary  (i  K.  viii.  10,  2  Chr.  xxix.  5 
HeD.),  which  is  also  profaned  by  the  people's  sins  (Ez.  v.  11, 
Lev.  XX.  3,  cf.  xxvi.  2). 

which  he  loveth.  The  addition  accentuates  the  enormity  of 
the  offence. 

the  dausrhter  of  a  foreign  god.      I.  e.  a  foreign  woman, 

belonging  to  another  religion.     The  expression  suggests  pointedly 

^he  motive  of  the  rebuke.     For  the  figure  cf.  Dt.  xxxii.  19,  where 

he  Israelites  are  called  the  sons  and  daughters  of  Yahweh,  and 

^u.  xxi.   29  (the  Moabitcs,   sons  and  daughters  of  Chemosh). 

^tranye'  (tVW.),  from  the  Lat,  extraneus,  is  used  bete  in  the 


314     '  MALACHI  2.  u  ' 

the  man  that  doeth  this  him  that  waketh  and  him  that 
answereth,  out  of  the  tents  of  Jacob,  and  him  that  offereth 

now  obsolete  sense,  which  was  formerly  very  common,  oi foreign  : 
of.  the  expressions  'strange  women,'  'strange  wives,'  i  K.  xi.  i, 
Ezr.  X.  2,  ID,  &c.,  Neh.  xiii.  26,  27  ;  '  strange  gods,'  Gen.  xxxv.  2, 
4  AV.  (RV.  'alien'),  Dt.  xxxii.  12,  Ps.  Ixxxi.  9^  a/. ;  'a  strange 
land,'  Ps.  cxxxvii.  4.  So  the  Homilies  (cited  by  Aldis  Wright) 
speak  of  *a  certain  strange  philosopher,'  meaning,  not  an  eccentric 
one,  but  a  foreign  one.  But,  as  now  understood,  '  strange '  so 
little  suggests  what  is  intended  that  it  is  a  pity  that  '  foreign  '  has 
not  been  regularly  substituted  for  it  in  RV.  ^ 

12.  May  the  man  who  does  this  be  left  with  none  in  any  way 
to  stand  by  or  assist  him ! 

May  Yahweh  cut  off  ... !  The  Heb.  word,  as  pointed,  has 
an  optative  force. 

him  that  waketh  and  hint  that  answereth.  If  correct,  this 
will  be  (in  the  Heb.")  an  alliterative  proverbial  expression  (like 
'  him  that  is  shut  up,  and  him  that  is  left  at  large  in  Israel,' 
I  K.  xxi.  21),  meaning  every  one  i.  e.,  here,  every  one  belonging 
to  him,  every  member  of  his  family,  Is.  xiv.  22),  and  generally 
supposed,  after  Gesenius,  to  be  derived  from  the  challenge  and 
reply  given  by  sentries  or  watchmen  as  they  went  their  rounds 
in  the  night.  Gcs.  quotes  a  rather  similar  expression,  used  by  an 
Arabic  writer,  •  There  was  not  in  the  city  a  caller  or  answerer,' 
i.e.  any  one  alive.  Hitz.  and  Keil,  however,  render  hint  that  is 
awake  and  answereth  (both  words  referring  to  the  same  person), 
i.  e.  any  one  alive,  objecting  to  Ges.'s  explanation  that  that  would 
require  'him  that  calleth  and  him  that  answereth.'  We.,  Now. 
and  Smith,  read,  after  LXX  (ecus),  ly  for  ys^  ^witness  and 
answerer '  (viz.  in  a  court  of  law  :  see  Job  xiii.  22)  :  may  he  be 

^  '  Stranger  '  also  is  often  used  similarly  in  the  now  obsolete  sense 
of  'foreigner,'  as  Lev.  xxii.  25  AV.  (RV.  'foreigner'),  i  K.  viii.  41, 
Neh.  ix.  2,  xiii.  30,  Ez.  xliv.  7,  9  AV.  (RV.  '  aliens  '),  Ps.  cxliv.  7^1 1. 
In  fact  'stranger'  is  used  in  EVV.  in  three  distinct  senses,  c* re- 
sponding to  three  distinct  Heb.  words  :  {i)  =  outsider  {Heb.  sdr),zs 
belonging  to  another  family,  Dt.  xxv.  5,  or  nation.  Is.  i.  7  and  often  ; 
of  a  non-Levite,  Nu.  xviii.  4,  a  non-priest,  Nu.  xvi.  40;  (2)  = 
foreigner  (Heb.  nokri,  and  cognates),  as  in  Lev.  xxii.  25,  &c.,  just 
cited;  i:^)  —  resident  alien  (Heb.  ger,  'sojourner'),  see  oir  Zech. 
vii.  10.  And  'strange'  occurs  similarly  in  senses  corresponding  to 
the  first  two  of  these  heads  :  thus  for  (i)  see  Dt.  xxxii.  16,  Ps.  xliv. 
20,  IxNxi.  9*  (==  strange  to  the  theocracy);  Lev.  x.  1  (=  strange  to 
the  law)  ;  and  for  (2)  the  passages  cited  above  in  the  text. 


'4 


MALACHI  2.  13,  14  315 

an  offering  unto  the  Lord  of  hosts.  And  this  ^  again  yc  '?< 
do:  ye  cover  the  altar  of  the  Lord  with  tears,  with 
weeping,  and  with  sighing,  insomuch  that  he  regardeth 
not  the  offering  any  more,  neither  receiveth  it  with  good 
will  at  your  hand.  Yet  ye  say,  Wherefore  ?  Because  the  14 
Lord  hath  been  witness  between  thee  and  the  wife  of  thy 
youth,  against  whom  thou  hast  dealt  treacherously,  though 
she  is  thy  companion,  and  the  wife  of  thy  covenant. 
*  Or,  rt  second  time 


deprived  of  all  civil  rights,  and  be  as  an  outcast,  with  no  one  to 
defend  him  in  a  court  of  law ! 

and  Mm  that  offereth,  &c.  May  he  further  be  deprived  of 
all  religious  rights,  and  have  no  one  even  to  offer  a  sacri«fice  on 
his  behalf ! 

an  offering'.     Heb.  mi'nhdh,  as  i.  10  (see  the  note).    So  v.  13. 

13.  The  prophet,  after  the  digression  of  vv.  11,  12,  reverts  to  * 
the  subject  of  divorce,  with  which  the  paragraph  began  {v.  10). 

again :  not  the  usual  word  ;  lit.  '■  as  a  second  thing.' 
ye  cover,  &c.  RV.  means,  Ye  cover  Yahweh's  altar  with 
the  tears  of  the  divorced  wives,  who  complain  there  to  Yahweh 
of  their  wrongs,  so  that  the  gifts  offered  upon  it  are  no  more 
acceptable  in  His  sight.  But  this  interpretation  of  either  'ye  do' 
or  '  ye  cover  '  is  not  very  natural ;  and  We.,  Now.,  Smith,  Marti 
may  be  right  in  rendering,  '  Ye  cover  the  altar  with  tears,  because 
i^see  Is.  1.  2  Heb.)  he  regardeth  not,'  &c.,  supposing  some  calamity 
(cf.  iii.  II)  to  have  overtaken  the  nation,  which  the  people  regarded 
as  a  sign  that  Yahweh  was  displeased  with  them,  and  would  not 
accept  their  offerings  ;  they  accordingly  pressed  round  the  altar, 
and  implored  there,  even  with  tears,  the  return  of  His  favour. 

with  g-ood  will.  Or,  ivith  acceptance.  The  Heb.  word  (pin) 
is  the  one  rendered  in  Lev.  i.  3,  xix.  5,  and  elsewhere,  that  he  {ye) 
may  U  accepted  (Jit.  '  for  his  (your)  acceptance  '}.     Cf.  on  i.  8,  10. 

14.  The  people  are  supposed  to  ask  why  Yahweh  does  not 
accept  their  offerings  :  the  prophet  replies,  Because  of  their 
unfaithfulness  to  the  marriage-tie. 

hath  been  witness:  at  the  time  of  the  marriage,  when 
Yahweh  was  a  witness  (cf.  Gen.  xxxi.  50)  and  surety  of  the 
agresehient. 

the  wife  of  thy  youth  (Is.  liv.  6)  :  once  beloved,  but  now 
that  she  is  grown  older,  in  spite  even  of  the  years  of  companion- 
ship, and  the  solemn  marriage-contract,  cast  oflf.- 

the  wiffe  of  thy  covenant ;  the  marriage-contract ;  cf.  Pr.  ii. 


3i6  MALACHI    2.  15 

a  And  did  he  not  make  one,  although  he  had  the  residue 
of  the  spirit?  And  wherefore  one?  He  sought  a  godly 

*  Or,  And  not  one  hath  done  so  who  had  a  residue  of  the  spirit. 
Or  what  ?  is  there  one  that  seeketh  a  godly  seed  ? 

17.  Or,  perhaps  (Now.,  Marti),  the  wife  belonging  to  the  covenant 
between  Israel  and  its  God,  in  which  thou  sharest,  as  opposed 
to  the  'daughter  of  a  foreign  god/  v.  11. 

15*.  A  difficult  and  certainly  corrupt  passage.  Four  views  of 
it  may  be  noticed:  (i)  RV.  (substantially  =  AV.)  means:  Did 
not  he  (God)  make  but  one  (Adam),  although  He  had  the  residue 
of  the  spirit  (of  life:  Gen.  vi.  17),  (and  could  therefore  have  made 
as  many  as  He  pleased).  Why  then  did  He  make  but  onel 
Because  He  sought  a  godly  seed  (which  could  only  be  secured 
by  the  union  of  a  single  man  with  a  single  woman).  But  this 
interpretation  is  very  forced. 

(2)  RVm.  means :  Not  one  hath  ever  done  this  (viz,  faithlessly 
divorced  his  wife),  who  had  a  vestige  (cf,  on  Zeph.  i.  4)  of  the 
spirit  (of  God,  Ps.  cxliii.  lo, — though  there  is  no  article  herein  the 
Heb.).  Or  is  there  any  one  seeking  godly  children  (and  so  with- 
held by  this  from  divorcing  his  wife)  ? 

(3)  Hitzig  and  Keil  render  :  '  And  not  one  hath  done  so,  who 
had  a  vestige  of  reason  (*  spirit,'  as  Job  xxxii.  8,  but  here  of  the 
moral  sense).  And  what  (did)  the  one  (do)?  He  was  seeking 
a  seed  of  God.'  '  And  what  did  the  one  do  ? '  is  supposed  to  be  an 
objection  raised  by  the  Jews  :  But  what,  they  ask,  did  '  the ' 
(well-known)  '  one,'  Abraham,  do,  when  he  sent  away  Hagar  ? 
The  prophet  replies.  He  was  (not  gratifying  himself,  as  you  are, 
but)  seeking  the  promised  ^eed.  But  '  the  one '  is  a  strange  ex- 
pression by  which  to  denote  Abraham  (Is.  li.  2,  Ez.  xxxiii.  24  are^j 
different) ;  nor  was  Hagar  Abraham's  'wife.'  ^^ 

(4)  We.,  emending  slightly  the  text,  renders  (so  Now.)  :  '  Hatl^^ 
not  (s'jn  for  inb<)  One  (God  :  cf.  v.  10)  made  and  left  over  (-iN\r'"i  fo 
"WCi),  i.  e.  preserved  (i  S.  xiv.  36,  xxv.  22),  to  us  (i:S  for  ib),  tl^^-^ 
spirit  (of  life  :  Gen.  vi.  17  ;  Is.  xlii.  5")  ?     And  what  doth  the  Oi^j^^ 
seek  ?  a  seed  of  God  (i.  c.  children,  the  gift  of  God,  Ps.  cxxvii.  ^^ 
The  passage  then  gives  two  reasons  against  divorce  :  (i)  we  ,pgg^' 
all  members  of  God's  family,  and  should  treat  one  another  acc(         ' 
ingly  :  (2^  when  our  wives  give  us  children,  we  have  obtainec^^^^. 
much  as  Yahweh  designs,  or  we  ate  entitled  to  expect ;  we 

not  entitled  to  discard  our  wives  afterwards,  because  they  ^^^d ' 

old.     This  interpretation  yields  an  excellent  sense,  and  is  at^j^ , 

tive,  though  to  '  leave  over '  (viz.  from  destruction  :  i  S.  (^•C,taJ;^,(, 
not  a  natural  expression  to  use  in  the  present  connexia^j^^y^j^ 
to  ♦  preserve.' 


MALACHI   2.  16,  17  317 

seed.  Therefore  take  heed  to  your  spirit,  and  let  none 
deal  treacherously  against  the  wife  of  his  youth.  For  3- 1  16 
hate  putting  away,  saith  the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel,  and 
him  that  covereth  his  garment  with  violence,  saith  the 
Lord  of  hosts  :  therefore  take  heed  to  your  spirit,  that  ye 
deal  not  treacherously. 

Ye  have  wearied  the  Lord  with  your  words.     Yet  ye  17 
»  Heb.  he  hateth. 

\b^.  to  your  spirit :    the  Heb.  can  mean  only  '  in  your  spirit,' 

i.  e.  in  your  mind.     Reading  b  for  1  we  could  render  for  your 

spirit   (i.  e.    for   your   life), — a    variation   of  the   more   common 

'take  heed  to  yourselves'  (lit.  for  your  soul),  Dt,  iv.  15  al.     But 

the  same  error  is  hardly  likely  to  have  happened  twice  {v.  16  end). 

and  let,  &c.     The   Heb.   is,    'And  against  the  wife  of  thy 

youth  let  him  not  {or  let  none)  deal  faithlessly.'    This  is  obviously 

wrong.     We  must  either,  with  Pesh.,  AV.,  RV.,  read  'his'  for 

'thy'  (vTir:  for  -imi-:),  or,  with  several  Heb.  MSS.,  LXX,  Targ., 

T      yulg.,  read  'deal  not'  for  'let  none  deal'  (uan  for  lyy).     The 

\    atter  is  more  pointed,  and  preferable. 

1  16.  Divorce  is  hateful  to   Yahweh.     Dt.  xxiv.  1-4  regulates 

vlivorce,  but  does  not  prohibit  it.    An  ambiguous  expression  in 

iDt.  xxiv.  I  (RV.  'some  unseemly  thing'  ;  see  the  writer's  note 

'  /  jjrf  loc.)  may  have  contributed  to  the  laxity  which  afterwards  pre- 

/if  ailed  Ccf.  Mt.  xix.  3  'for  every  cause').     Malachi's  words  are  an 

/'•'*•  rc^ticipation  of  the  higher  teaching  of  Mt  v.  32,  xix.  6,  8. 

I  hate.  The  Heb.,  as  RVm.  states,  is  '  he  hateth ' ;  but  the 
he?t  person  is  required  by  the  context,  so  that  either  .v:xrN  or 
po;:ir'  must  be  read  for  x:tu.     '  Putting  away,'  as  Dt.  xxiv.  i. 

]   that   covereth   his   g'arment  with   violence:    apparently 
datig-  expression  for,  covereth  himself  with  violence  (viz.  in  ill- 
clai^ting  his  wife).     In  the  Kor'dn  ii.   183  it  is  said,    'You  are 
on  rfnitted  to  approach  your  wives  in  the  night  of  the  fast.     They 
jyour  garment,  and  you  are  theirs '  ;  and  some  commentators 
a  frtjrdingly  take  *  garment '  here  as  a  figure  for  '  wife.'     But  it  is 
Uful  whether    'his   garment,'    standing   alone,    without  any 
'  misV^st^o"  (^s  in  the  Kor'an  passage),  could  have  this  sense. 
jo  your  spirit.     Read  in,  as  before ;    and  then  '  deal  not 
\ssly: 
Revisl^^ — ^*  ®'  There  was  a  class  among  Malachi's  contempora- 
distinr^°  were  not  irreligious  (cf.  iii.   14''),  and  are  not  to  be 
often  ifi^*^  with  the  godless  of  iii.  15,  18,  but  who  were  deficient 
niarke^*'*'*'*'y>  ^"^  were  tempted  consequently  by  the  troubles 
nal  anomalies  which  they  saw  about  them  to  question  God's 


3i8  MALACHI    3.  i 

say,  AMierein  have  we  wearied  him  ?  In  that  ye  say,  Every 
one  that  doeth  evil  is  good  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  and 
he  dehghteth  in  them  ;  or  where  is  the  God  of  judgement  ? 
3  Behold,  I  send  my  messenger,  and  he  shall  prepare  the 
way  before  me :  and  the  Lord,  whom  ye  seek,  shall 
suddenly  come  to  his  temple ;  "  and  the  ^  messenger  of 
the  covenant,  whom  ye  delight  in,  behold,  he  cometh, 
*  Or,  even  ^  Or,  angel 

justice,  and  to  doubt  whether  He  would  ever  interpose,  to  dis- 
tinguish between  the  evil  and  the  good.  To  such  the  prophet 
reph'es  that  the  day  is  at  hand  when  Yahweh  will  suddenly  appear 
in  His  Temple  to  separate  between  the  righteous  and  the  wicked, 
and  to  purify  His  ungodly  nation,  priests  and  laity  alike,  in  the 
furnace  of  judgement. 

17.  wearied.  A  strong  word  :  properly  made  to  toil,  fig.  for, 
been  a  burden  and  trouble  to  me  ;  cf.  is.  xliii.  23^,  24^  (where  the 
parallel  clause  has  made  to  serve).     Not  the  word  used  in  Is.  vii.  13, 

yet  ye  say.     The  objection  stated,  as  before,  i.  6,  7,  &c. 

or  where  ?  &c.     There  is  no  God  of  judgement  ;  or  else  H 

would  have  interposed  long  ago.  3 

iii.  1.  The  judgement  which  has  been  called  in  question  wig 

come  :  Yahweh  Himself  will  suddenly  appear  in  His  temple,  an* 

execute  it.  \ 

Behold,  I  am  sending" :  the  participle,  as  often  in  tl'  : 
prophets,  especially  after  '  behold,'  of  the  future,  conceived  ai.  2 
pictured  as  imminent.  The  judgement  described  by  the  propha 
is  pictured  by  him  as  falling,  upon  the  present  generation  ;  cf.  ^I 
iv.  I,  5;  Nah.  ii.  2;  Hag.  ii.  21  ;  Zech.  iii.  8.  For  other  example 
(in  the  Heb.),  see  Hab.  i.  6  ;  Zeph.  iii-.  19 ;  Zech.  ii.  8,  9  [H 
13,  14],  iii.  9,  viii.  7,  xi.  6,  16,  xii.  2,  xiv.  i  ;  Mai.  ii.  3,  iii.  i  ei^^^i 

prepare :  properly,  clear,  remove  obstacles  from.  The  f^j. 
pression  is  very  probably  suggested  by  Is.  xl.  3  ;  cf.  Ixii.  10.    jj^^ 

my  messenGfer :  an  ideal  figure,  who  will  clear  the  way  bcQ^e 
Yahweh, — fig.  for,  prepare  men  to  receive  Him,  like  the  courier  \  j 
precedes  an  earthly  monarch  to  announce  his  approach.    Cf.  i 

whom  ye  seek :    alluding  to  the  wish  to  see  Him  ap 
implied  in  the  words  'or  where,'  &c.,  at  the  end  of  ii.  17. 

suddenly.     A  graphic  and  significant  addition,  at  a  m^ 
when  you  do  not  expect  it.     Cf.  in  the  N.  T.  Mt.  xxiv.  42,  4. 

the  messenger  of  the  covenant :  a  synonym  of  '  the  ftr*. 
(]ns), — notice  'whom  ye  desire,'  parallel  to  'whom  ye  se^f  ^  jg 
i.  e.  Yahweh,  not  in  Himself,  however,  but  in  a  represe^j^ '  f^r 
form  (just  as  '  Yahweh' s  angel '  in  the  historical  books  is  V 


MALACHI    3.  10,  II  323 

Bring  ye  the  wnole  tithe  into  the  storehouse,  that  there  10 
may  be  meat  in  mine  house,  and  prove  me  now  herewith, 
saith  the  Lord  uf  liosls,  if  I  will  not  open  you  the  windows 
of  heaven,  and  pour  you  out  a  blessing,  that  there  shall 
not  be  room  enough  to  receive  it.  And  I  will  rebuke  the  i  r 
devourer  for  your  sakes,  and  he  shall  not  destroy  the 
fruits  of  your  ground ;  neither  shall  your  vine  cast  her 
fruit  before  the  time  in  the  field,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts. 

9.  the  curse  (ii.  2)  :   viz.  drought,  locusts,  and  bad  crops  {vv. 

Io^  II). 

and  yet  me  (cmpli.)  are  ye  robbing,  ye  whole  nation : 
undeterred  by  the  curse. 

10-12.  If,  however,  the  tithe  is  paid  regularly  in  lull,  pros- 
perity will  return. 

10.  the  whole  tithe.  From  the  emphasis  laid  upon  the  '  whole ' 
tithe,  it  is  evident  that  a  part  must  often  have  been  withheld. 

the  storehouse.  Or,  treasury:  a  chamber  in  the  Temple 
(-inirt,  into  which  the  tithe  and  tcn'tmdh  were  paid  :  see  Neh.  x. 
38,  xii.  44,  xiii.  5,  12,  13.  The  payment  of  the  whole  tithe  into 
the  Temple  treasuries  for  the  priests  and  Levites  is  m  accordance 
with  the  regulations  of  P  (Nu.  xviii.  21-32   ;  cf  on  v.  8. 

meat.  I.e.  food  (Hab.  i.  16),  the  meaning  being  provision  for 
the  maintenance  of  the  priests  and  Levites  :  cf.  Neh.  xii.  37-39. 

prove  me,  I  pray  you,  herewith :  and  see  whether,  if  you 
return  to  me,  I  shall  not  return  to  you  {v,  7). 

if  I  will  not  open  for  you  (Dt.  xxviii.  12)  the  windows  of 
heaven  (Gen.  vii.  11,  viii.  2  ;  cf.  2  K.  vii.  2,  19)  :  that  they  may 
pour  down  an  abundant  rain. 

11.  rebuke  for  you  the  devourer.  Not  '  for  your  sakes  '  :  the 
dative  is  the  dat.  of  reference,  exactly  as  in  the  two  following 
clauses  (where  it  is  paraphrased  by  '  you  ')  :  cf,  the  footnote 
on  p.  309. 

the  devourer.  Lit,  the  eater ;  i.  c.  (cf.  Joel  i.  4)  the  locust, 
a  frequent  and  destructive  plague  in  Palestine. 

cast  her  fruit  before  her  time :  in  the  Heb.  one  word,  lit. 
'  miscarry,'  i.  e.  fail  to  ripen  her  fruit ;  cf.  2  K.  ii.  19,  21. 

term,  and  to  put  a  mark  ('n  or  t.)  against  them  on  the  margin  of  his 
Revised  Version  j  he  will  then  perceive  for  himself  how  special  and 
distinctive  the  use  of  the  term  is,  {Minhdht  and  korbdn,  are  also 
often  rendered  in  EVV,  '  oblation '  or  *  offering,'  and  should  be 
marked  similarly,  for  distinction  from  each  other  and  from  terilmdh.) 

y  2 


324  MAJ.ACHI    3.    12-15 

12  And  all  nations  shall  call  you  happy:  for  ye  shall  be  a 
delightsome  land,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts. 

13  Your  words  have  been  stout  against  me,  saith  the  Lord. 

14  Yet  ye  say,  Wherein  have  we  spoken  against  thee?  Ye 
have  said,  It  is  vain  to  serve  God  :  and  what  profit  is  it 
that  we  have  kept  his  charge,  and  that  we  have  walked 

15  ^mournfully  before  the  Lord  of  hosts?  And  now  we  call 

*  Or,  in  mourning  apparel 


12.  shall  call  you  happy  (Ps.  Ixxii.  17*^).  Cf.  for  the  thought 
Is.  Ixi.  9. 

ye.     The  pron.  is  emphatic. 

a  delig-htsome  land.  Cf.  Is.  Ixii.  4  (see  RVm.  there). 
iil.  13 — iv.  3.  Another  paragraph,  addressed  apparently  to  the 
same  class  of  impatient  murmurers  as  ii.  17 — iii.  6.  These  com- 
plained that  their  rehgious  observances  brought  them  no  advantage ; 
it  was  the  wicked  who  prospered  :  the  prophet  repHes  that  the 
day  is  coming  when  the  distinction  between  the  evil  and  the  good 
will  be  made  manifest :  the  workers  of  wickedness  will  be  ex- 
terminated, and  the  righteous  will  triumph  over  their  fall. 

13.  are  stout  {lit.  '  strong/  '  hard')  against  me.  The  prophet 
censures  the  spiritual  tone  and  attitude  adopted  by  these  mur- 
murers.    Cf.  the  reproach  in  ii.  17. 

14.  what  profit  .  .  .?    Cf.  Job  xxi.  15  ;  also  above,  ii.  17. 
kept  his  charge.     In   the  more   general  sense  of  the  ex- 
pression, of  religious  duties  in  general  (Gen.  xxvi.  5  ;  Dt.  xi.  r  ; 
I  K.  ii.  3),  not  specifically  of  ritual  observances,  as  Zech.  iii.  7  ; 
Lev.  viii.  35 ;  Nu.  iii.  7,  &c.' 

walked  mournfully  :  cf.  Ps.  xxxviii.  6,  xlii.  9.  The  meaning 
is,  with  outward  marks  of  mourning ;  and  the  marg.,  '  in 
mourning  apparel,'  is  added  to  indicate  this,  iip  does  not  denote 
a  state  of  mind  (sorrowing  or  grieving),  but  (meaning  properly 
to  be  dirty)  has  reference  to  the  squalid  person  and  attire  of 
a  mourner  in  the  East  (2  S.  xix.  24 ;  Est.  iv.  i  :  cf.  sackcloth  and 
ashes  as  a  mark  of  humiliation  and  contrition,  Jon.  iii.  6,  Dan.  ix. 
3,  I  Mace.  iii.  47).  The  class  of  persons  referred  to  are  not  the 
godless  :  they  kept  up  the  forms  of  religion,  but  were  deficient  in 
spirituality ;  hence  they  were  impatient,  and  complained  that, 
when  they  humbled  themselves,  and  aoSumed  the  garb  of 
mourners,  on  account  of  their  sense  of  God's  anger  (as  shown  by 
the  disasters  alluded  to  in  v.  11),  their  humiliation  passed  un- 
heeded, and  brought  their  country  no  relief. 

Ijefore.     Lit,  'from  the  face  of,'  i.  e.  on  account  of,  as  after 


MALACHI    3.  16,17  325 

the  proud  happy ;  yea,  they  that  work  wickedness  are  built 
up ;  yea,  they  tempt  God,  and  are  delivered.  Then  they  16 
that  feared  the  Lord  spake  one  with  another :  and  the 
Lord  hearkened,  and  heard,  and  a  book  of  remembrance 
was  written  before  him,  for  them  that  feared  the  Lord, 
and  that  thought  upon  his  name.  And  they  shall  be  17 
mine,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  in  the  day  ^  that  I  ^  do 

*  Or,  wherein  I  do  make  a  peculiar  treasure  *»  Or,  do  this 

other  verbs  implying  humiliation  (i  K.  xxii.  29,  2  K.  xxii.  ig), 
the  prep.  0:20,  not  ':i:7)  expressing  not  locality,  but  causation. 

15.  ITow,  therefore,  we  (emph.),  &c.  :  as  their  religious 
observances  bring  them  no  advantage,  they  pronounce  the  godless 
happy. 

the  proud:  i.e.,  probably,  the  lax  and  worldly  Israelites, 
who,  prosperous  themselves,  looked  down  with  cold  and  haughty 
indifference  upon  their  poorer  brethren,  took  advantage  of  them 
(v.  s''),  and  treated  the  conscientious  servants  of  Yahweh  with 
disdain.  Cf.  in  a  Psalm  dating  from  the  same  period,  or  a  little 
later,  Ps.  cxix.  21,  51,  69,  78,  85,  122  (where  the  'proud'  are 
spoken  of  as  in  various  ways  vexing  the  faithful  Israelites). 

are  built  up :  fig.  for,  are  successful ;  cf.  Job  xxii.  23 ;  Jer. 
xii.  16. 

yea,  they  tempt  God,  &c.  :  i.  e.  they  challenge  God's  judge- 
ment by  their  wickedness,  and  yet  it  comes  not  upon  them. 
'  Tempt '  is  the  word  rendered  '  prove '  in  v.  10 ;  here  in  a  bad 
sense,  of  proving  in  a  spirit  of  scepticism  and  disbelief,  i.  e.  to  put 
to  the  proof ;  so  Ps.  xcv.  9^ 

16.  Theu — when  they  heard  these  arguments  of  the  sceptics 
{vv.  14  f.) — the  pious  God-fearing  Israelites  discoursed  together, 
doubtless  reassuring  each  other  with  thoughts  of  faith  and  trust 
in  God. 

and  Yahweh  hearkened,  &c.  Yahweh  heard  what  His 
righteous  servants  thus  said,  and  resolved  to  reward  them  for 
their  fidelity.  This  resolution  is  expressed  by  a  figure  derived 
from  the  custom  of  the  Persian  monarchs  to  have  the  names  of 
public  benefactors  inscribed  in  a  book  in  order  that  in  due  time 
they  might  receive  a  suitable  reward.  See  Est.  vi.  i  (where  '  book 
of  record(s) '  is  in  the  Heb.  the  same  as  book  of  remembrance 
here) ;  and  cf.  Hdt.  iii,  140,  v.  11,  viii.  85. 

thoug'ht  upon:  or,  regarded  ({s.  xiii.  17,  xxxiii.  8). 

17.  The  destined  reward  :  they  will  be  Yahweh's  own  posses- 
sion, and  under  His  fatherly  protection,  in  the  day  upon  which 
He  appears  to  judgement. 


326  MALACHI  3.  t8— 4.  i 

make,  e^'en  a  peculiar  treasure ;  and  I  will  spare  them,  as 
iS  a  man  spareth  his  own  son  that  serveth  him.  Then  shall 
ye  return  and  discern  between  the  righteous  and  the 
wicked,  between  him  that  serveth  God  and  him  that 
4  serveth  him  not.  ^  For,  behold,  the  day  cometh,  it  burneth 
as  a  furnace  ;  and  all  the  proud,  and  all  that  work  wicked- 
ness, shall  be  stubble  :  and  the  day  that  cometh  shall 

»  [Ch.  iii.  19  in  Heb.] 


in  the  day  on  which  Z  do  (or  act)  :  nu:?  (*'do')  used 
absolutely,  as  Ps.  xxii.  31,  xxxvii.  5**,  Hi.  9;  Is.  xliv.  23,  xlviii.  11 
Cthere  is  no  'it'  in  these  passages  in  the  Heb.);  Jer.  xiv.  7 
•work").  'That  I  do  make'  (RV\),  though  quite  possible 
grammatically  (Ps.  cxviii.  24},  is  less  probable.  The  recurrence 
of  these  words  (alone)  in  iv.  3  is  against  marg.  *  (p.  325). 

a  peculiar  treasure.  In  the  Heb.  one  word,  the  one  (rr^;?) 
applied  to  Israel  in  Ex.  xix.  5:  and  repeated  thence  (with  'people' 
added)  in  Dt.  vii.  6,  xiv.  2,  xxvi.  18,  Ps.  cxxxv.  4  (cf.  i  Pet.  ii. 
9)  :  see  also,  in  illustration  of  the  proper  sense  of  the  word,  Eccl. 
ii.  8.  The  high  privilege,  which  Israel  as  a  nation  had  forfeited,  of 
being  Yahweh's  segulldh,  or  special  possession,  is  here  transferred 
to  the  faithful  minority  of  true  and  loyal  worshippers.  '  Peculiar' 
is  used  in  the  old  etymological  sense  of  the  word  of  '  specially 
one's  own  '  (Lat.peculium,  the  private  property  of  a  child  or  slave). 

will  spare :  in  contrast  to  the  condemned  wicked. 

as  a  man  spareth  his  own  sou  that  serveth  him  :  at  a 
time  viz.  when  he  would  be  punishing  his  'stubborn  and  rebellious 
son'  (Dt.  xxi.  i8-2t).  Yahweh,  in  the  day  of  judgement  on  the 
wicked,  will  display  towards  His  own  faithful  servants  the  love 
and  affection  of  a  father  towards  his  dutiful  son. 

18.  And  so,  when  the  judgement  breaks,  ye  shall  return  from 
j'our  present  scepticism  {v.   i^O,  and   perceive  what  you  now 
deny,  the  distinction  between  the  righteous  and  the  wicked, 
iv.  1.  Por:  giving  the  reason  for  iii.  18. 

cometh.     Properly,  is  coming-.     Cf  the  note  on  iii.  i. 

burning  as  an  oven.  The  tanwlr  (Gen.  xv.  17  ;  Hos.  vii.  4' 
was  a  portable  earthenware  jar,  in  shape  like  a  truncated  cone, 
heated  by  burning  embers  placed  in  it :  see  an  illustration  in 
Whitehouse,  A  Primer  of  Heb.  Antiqtiities,  p.  73  :  cf  EB,  i.  605. 

stubhle :  for  the  comparison,  cf.  Is.  v.  24,  Obad.  18. 

shall  set  them  ablaze  {"crh)  :  thus  signally  reversing  the 
judgement  of  the  sceptics,  iii.  15. 


MALACHI    4.  2,  r,  327 

burn  them  up,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  that  it  shall  leave 
them  neither  root  nor  branch.     But  unto  you  that  fear  my  2 
i  name  shall  the  sun  of  righteousness  arise  with  healing  in 
his  wings ;  and  ye  shall  go  forth,  and  gambol  as  calves  of 
the  stall.     And  ye  shall  tread  down  the  wicked ;  for  they  3 


neither  root  nor  branch.     The  figure  changes  from  that  of 

*  stubble '  to  that  of  a  tree  utterly  destroyed  by  some  great  con- 
flagration.    Cf.  Job  XV.  30. 

2,  3.  The  very  different  future  in  store  for  the  righteous. 

2.  the  sun  of  rig-hteousness.  A  beautiful  and  striking  figure  : 
the  deliverance  of  Yahweh's  servants  on  the  day  of  judgement 
will  be  a  signal  vindication  of  their  righteousness ;  and  so  this  is 
figured  as  a  sun  beaming  forth,  conspicuous  to  all,  and  bringing 
healing  in  its  wings — i.  c.  curing  them  for  ever  from  the  wounds 
which  their  present  trials  have  inflicted.  The  'of  is  epexegetical 
(  =  consisting  in).  The  figure  has  close  analogies  in  Ps.  xxxvii.  6  ; 
Is.  Ixii.  i^ 

arise.     Properly  beam  forth,  as  regularly,  when  'rise*  or 

*  arise  '  is  used  of,  or  with  allusion  to,  the  sun  :  e.  g.  Dt.  xxxiii.  2^, 
Is.  ]x.  i^,  2^,  s^ 

in  its  wing's.  Either  directly  fig.  for  rays;  or  indirectly, 
with  allusion  to  representations  of  the  solar  disk  with  wings 
issuing  from  either  side,  often  found  on  Assyrian  and  Persian 
monuments  :  as  the  ra3's  of  the  physical  sun  spread  light  and 
warmth  over  the  earth,  so  will  the  •  wings '  of  the  '  sun  of 
righteousness  ■  bring  healing,  i.  e.  new  life,  health,  and  strength  to 
the  suffering  righteous  Israelites.  His  in  RV.  (in  the  Heb.  ha; 
referring  to  the  fem.  '  sun ')  is  an  archaism  for  its  (which  never 
occurs  in  AV.  of  either  OT.  or  NT.\ 

The  Fathers  interpreted  the  *  sun  of  righteousness '  of  Christ 
(hence  no  doubt  the  capital  S  in  'Sun'  in  AV.)  ;  but  though 
the  figure  is  a  beautiful  and  appropriate  one  to  apply  to  the 
Saviour  of  the  world,  this  cannot  be  the  sense  intended  by 
Malachi :  for  Malachi  is  addressing  the  righteous  of  his  own 
time,  and  promises  how  t/iey  will  soon  have  their  righteousness 
vindicated,  and  enjoy  the  satisfaction  of  triumphing  over  the 
wicked. 

2'',  3.  The  exultation  of  the  righteous  at  their  deliverance. 

2^.  They  will  come  forth  from  their  hiding-places,  and  '  break 
into  life  and  energy,  like  young  calves  leaping  from  the  dark  pen 
into  the  early  sunshine'  (G.  A.  Smith,  p.  370).  On  'gambol' 
(LXX  aKipTTjafTf),  see  on  Hab.  i.  8. 

3.  '  To  this  morning  landscape  a  grim  figure  is  added.     They 


3^8  MALACHI    4.  4-6 

shall  be  ashes  under  the  soles  of  your  feet  in  the  day  that 
I  a  do  make,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts. 

4  Remember  ye  the  law  of  Moses  my  servant,  which  I 
commanded  unto  him  in  Horeb  for  all  Israel,  even  statutes 

5  and  judgements.    Behold,   I  will  send  you  Elijah  the 
prophet  before  the  great  and  terrible  day  of  the  Lord 

6  come.     And  he  shall  turn  the  heart  of  the  fathers  ^to  the 

*  Or,  do  this  ^  Or,  with 


will  tread  down  the  wicked  and  the  arrogant  like  ashes  beneath 
their  feet'  (ibid.).     Cf.  the  picture  in  Is.  Ixvi.  24. 

ashes :  to  which  they  will  have  been  reduced  by  the  fire  oiv.  i. 
in  the  day  on  which  Z  do.     As  iii.  17. 
4-6.  Final  exhortation  to  obey  the  Mosaic  law,  with  a  promise 
that  Elijah  will  be  sent  to  restore  love  and  unity  to  the  divided 
people,  and  avert  if  possible  the  threatened  doom. 

4.  the  law  {^  tordh')  of  Moses,  my  servant.  Both  are  ex- 
pressions used  often  by  Deuteronomic  writers :  see  (all  being 
passages  due  to  the  compilers)  (i)  Josh.  viii.  31,  32,  xxiii.  6, 
I  K.  ii.  3;  2  K.  xiv.  6,  xxiii.  25  ;  and  (2)  Josh.  i.  2,  7,  and  '  Yahweh's 
servant,'  Dt.  xxxiv.  5;  Josh.  i.  x,  13,  15,  and  often  in  this  book. 

in  Horeh.  Both  '  Horeb  *  and  '  statutes  and  judgements '  are 
expressions  characteristic  of  Dt.  (i.  2,  6,  19,  iv.  10,  15  al.  [P  always 
says  *  Sinai']  ;  iv.  i,  5,  v.  i,  xii.  i,  xxvi.  14  al).  The  prophet  is 
probably  thinking  of  the  moral  and  spiritual  precepts  of  Deuter- 
onomy. V.  6  seems  to  show  that  dissensions  were  rife  among  the 
people  at  the  time,  which  might  be  put  an  end  to  by  obedience  to 
the  principles  of  love  and  philanthropy  so  often  inculcated  in 
Deuteronomy. 

judgrements.     Better,  ordinances :  see  on  Zeph.  ii.  3. 

5.  Elijah,  the  great  reformer,  who,  according  to  2  K.  ii,  had 
been  carried  up  into  heaven,  will  reappear  to  prepare  the  people 
for  the  great  day  on  which  Yahweh  comes  for  judgement.  The 
expression  is  borrowed  from  Joel  ii.  31  ;  in  fact  the  whole  of  v.  5^ 
(from  ' before')  agrees  verbatim  with  Joel  ii.  31. 

I  will  send.  Properly,  I  am  sending:  his  appearance  is 
pictured  as  immediate.     Cf.  on  iii.  i,  iv.  i. 

6.  shall  turn,  &c.  :  i.  e.  shall  restore  unity  in  the  divided 
people.  A  state  of  grave  social  discord  and  family  division  fcf. 
Mic.  vii.  1-6,  especially  v.  6),  imperilling  even  the  existence  of  the 
community,  seems  to  be  indicated.  RVm.  means,  '  shall  turn  (to 
God)  the  heart  of  the  fathers  together  with  (that  of)  the 
children,*  &c.  ;  but  this  is  a  forced  and  unnatural  interpretation. 


MALACHI    4.  6  329 

children,  and  the  heart  of  the  children  ^  to  their  fathers  ; 
lest  I  come  and  smite  the  ^  earth  with  a  ^  curse. 
»  Or,  m'i/i  ^  Or,  land  "  Or,  ban 

lest,  &c.  Unless  Elijah  does  this,  ruin  is  imminent  for  the  land. 

the  earth.     RVm.  the  land  is  preferable  ;   for  Malachi  is 
thinking  only  of  the  land  of  Israel. 

with  the  ban.  I.  e.  with  destruction  :  see  on  Zech.  xiv.  11. 
Elijah  was  a  prominent  figure  in  later  Jewish  belief;  and,  at 
least  about  and  after  the  period  of  the  Christian  era,  many  legends 
were  current  about  him.  The  belief  that  he  would  reappear  for 
the  moral  and  social  reformation  of  Israel  may  have  been  already 
formed  before  Malachi  wrote  ;  but  whether  that  was  the  case  or 
not,  it  was  subsequently,  and  still  is,  firmly  held  by  the  Jews. 
Thus  in  the  NT.  we  read  (Mk.  ix.  iif.=  Mt.  xvii.  10 f.),  'The 
scribes  say  that  Elijah  must  first  come'  (cf.  the  references  to 
Elijah  in  Mt.  xxvii.  47  =  Mk.  xv.  35  'Behold,  he  calleth  Elijah,' 
and  John  i.  21  <  Art  thou  Elijah  ? '  25),  and  our  Lord  replies, 
'  Elijah  indeed  cometh  first  and  restoreth  all  things,'  adding  in 
the  following  verse  that  he  had  already  come,  and  they  had  done 
unto  him  as  they  listed,  with  evident  reference  to  John  the 
Baptist:  cf.  on  iii.  i  ;  and  see  also  Mt.  xi.  14  'If  ye  are  willing 
to  receive  (it),  this  is  Elijah,  which  is  to  come'' ;  Lk.  i.  17  '  He 
(John)  shall  go  before  his  face  in  the  spirit  and  power  of  Elijah, 
to  turn  the  hearts  of  the  fathers  to  the  children,  and  the  dis- 
obedient (to  walk)  in  the  wisdom  of  the  just ;  to  make  ready  for 
the  Lord  a  people  prepared  ^for  him).' 

In  the  eulogy  on  Elijah  in  Ecclus.  xlviii.  i-ii,  v.  10  is  based 
upon  this  passage  of  Malachi  ^  For  further  particulars  respecting 
the  post-Biblical  Jewish  beliefs  about  Elijah,  see  Edersheim,  Life 
and  Times  of  Jesus,  ii.  703-6 ;  Schurer,  §  29  (ii.  440-2).  The 
general  Jewish  view  was,  and  still  is,  that  he  is  to  be  the  fore- 
runner of  the  Messiah,  especially  for  the  sake  of  bringing  peace, 
solving  difficulties,  settling  legal  and  other  disputes,  deciding  who 
were  by  birth  entitled  to  belong  to  Israel,  and  calling  to  re- 
pentance. The  Jew  in  Justin  {c.  Tryph.  cc.  8,  49)  says  further 
that  Elijah  was  expected  to  anoint  the  Messiah. 

^  Render: 

*Who  is  written  down  [viz.  in   Mai.  iv.   5f.]  in  (i.e.   to  come 

with)  reproofs  for  (their)  seasons  [in  the  Heb.  text:   *  as  ready 

for  a  season '], 
*  To  appease  anger  before  wrath  [Heb. :  *  To  make  to  cease 

anger  before '  (the  text  here  breaks  off ;  supply  perhaps,  as 

suggested  by  the  Syriac,  '  the  day  of  Yahweh  ')], 
*To  turn  the  heart  of  the  father  to  the  son  [Heb.,  Syr.  :   'of  the 

fathers  to  the  sons '], 
'  And  to  establish  the  tribes  of  Israel.' 


330 

Additio7mI  Note  07i  Nah.  i.  i^. 

The  two  cuneiform  tablets,  found  recently  at  Gezer,  i8  miles 
north-west  of  Jerusalem  {Quarterly  Statement  of  the  Pal.  Explor. 
Fund,  1904,  pp.  229  ff.,  1905,  pp.  206  ff.),  seem  to  afford  direct 
evidence  of  the  political  influence  of  Assyria  in  Palestine  during 
the  reign  of  Asshurbanipal  (b.  c.  668-625).  The  tablets,  which 
date  from  b.  c.  651,  and  648  {ibid.  1905,  pp.  209,  210),  are  con- 
tracts for  the  sale  of  land  :  they  are  both  dated  by  Assyrian  epony- 
mies,— the  second  by  that  of  a  viceroy  {shaknu)  of  Carchemish  ; 
and  the  sellers  in  one,  and  most  of  the  witnesses  in  both,  bear 
Assyrian  names.  They  may  be  taken  to  show  at  least  that  there 
was  an  Assyrian  colony  or  garrison  at  Gezer,  if  not  that  the 
country  round  was  under  Assyrian  domination. 


Note  on  the  terms  *  Messiah '  and  '  Messianic' 

In  order  rightly  to  understand  these  terms,  it  is  necessary  to 
bear  in  mind  the  proper  meaning  of  the  word  'Messiah.' 
'  Messiah '  means  '  anointed ' ;  and  in  its  Hebrew  form  it  is 
often  used  of  the  Israelitish  king  as  '  Yahweh's  anointed'  (i  S, 
xvi.  6,  xxiv.  7,  II,  &c.).  The  later  Jews,  upon  the  basis  of  this 
usage,  designated  the  future  ideal  ruler,  whom  the  prophets  often 
depicted,  by  the  title,  'the  anointed  king '  (in  Aramaic,  Nn'iop  >»3bn). 
This  is  the  origin  of  the  term  '■  Messiah  *  :  it  is  properly  appli- 
cable only  to  the  ideal  king  of  such  passages  as  Is.  ix,  6f.,  or 
Zech.  ix.  9  ;  and  '  Messianic'  ought  strictly  to  be  limited  to  those 
prophecies  of  an  ideal  future  in  which  the  ideal  '  king '  is  also 
included.  The  latter  term  is,  however  commonly  applied,  in 
a  wider  sense  (cf.  on  Hag.  ii.  7\  to  other  prophecies  of  an  ideal 
future,  even  though  the  figure  of  the  ideal  king  forms  no  feature 
in  them.  It  is,  however,  a  serious  mistake  to  apply  the  term 
'  Messiah '  to  ideal  figures  drawn  by  the  prophets,  which,  though 
fulfilled  by  Christ,  are  still  not  figures  of  an  ideal  '  king.'  Thus 
there  is  no  'Messiah,'  or  ideal  'king,'  in  Is.  xl-lxvi.  When 
a  Jew  is  asked,  Can  you  not  see  the  Messiah  in  Is.  xlix,  liii,  &c.  ? 
he  naturally,  and  rightly,  answers.  No.  The  figure  of  the 
'  Righteous  servant,'  who  combines  in  himself  the  ideal  attributes 
of  the  prophet  and  the  nation,  prefigures  Christ,  not  as  a'  king.' 
but  as  a  prophet ;  and  only  confusion  and  misunderstanding  can 
result  if  this  ideal  figure  is  described  as  the  'Messiah.'  The  two 
ideal  characters,  of  the  prophet  in  Is.  x'-lxvi,  and  of  the  king 
' '  Messiah ')  in  other  prophets,  were  united,  when  the  time  of 
fulfilment  came,  in  Christ ;  but  in  the  Old  Testament  they  aro 
distinct 'cf.  Richm.,  Messianic  Prophecy.  i89i,pp.  121, 191^.283-8. 


INDEX 


Acrostic  poem,  i8,  25-8, 
adamant,  219. 

Alexander  the  Great,  231,  236, 
237  ;  his  successors,  231  f,, 
240. 
alliteration,  34,  119,  314. 
Ammon,  Zeph.  ii.  8,  9. 
angels  in  visions,  177  f..  184  ft\ 
Apocryphal  prophecy  of  Zcpha- 

niah,  103. 
'Arabah,  the,  Zech.  xiv.  10. 
Archaisms,    or    unfamiliar   ex- 
pressions,    occurrins:      in 
RV:— 

again  (back),  29,  248  f. 

alarm  (To  arms  1  ..  1197/. 

base  (abased),  312. 

brass  (copper),  209. 

bruit  (report),  46. 

cielcd  (panelled  \  155. 

coast  (border),  123. 

consult  'plan),  80. 

cry  upon  (cry  to\  211,  226. 

discover  (strip  off),  38. 

dissolved    (melted    avray    in 
fear,  unstrung),  32. 

excellency(pre-eminence\29. 

fair  (clean),  196. 

fenced  (fortified),  120,  252. 

fray  (frighten),  189'. 

grisled  (gre}'),  209. 

his    its),  327. 


light  (frivolous),  132. 

mantelet  (siege-shelter),  31. 

meat  (food\  74,  98,  323. 

mourn  (moan),  33. 

of  (from),  81,  307. 

peculiar  (special),  326. 

plague  (blow^,  277. 

ravin  (plunder).  35. 

seethe  ''boil),  281. 

snuff  (sniff),  307. 

solemn     (stated,    recuiring). 

140. 
sorrel  (yellovvish-rcd^,  185. 
staves  (plur.  of  'staffs,  94, 

256. 
strange,    stranger,     '  foreign, 

foreigner),  313  f.,  314  u. 
taber.  to  'to  drum),  33, 
table  (tablet;,  75. 
tempt    (put    to    the    proof), 

325. 
turned,  to  be  (to  turn\,  83. 
vex  (harass  or  trouble  physic- 
ally-), 79. 
vile  (common).  25,  38. 
well  favoured  (beautiful),  37. 
vvinefat  (wine-vat),  166. 
Ashdod,  Zeph.  ii.  4,  Zech.  ix,  6. 
Ashkelon,  Zeph.  ii.  4,  7,  Zech. 

ix.  5. 
ass,  the  beast  of  peace,  241. 
Asshurbanipal,  59,  ii«.,  330. 


*  So  also  Dt.  xxviii.  26,  Jer.  vii.  33.     Elsewhere,  as  Is.  xvii.  2, 
Nah.  il.  II,  Ez.  xxxiv.  28,  the  same  Hebrew  is  rendered  *make  afraid.' 

*  See  DB.,  or  Wright's  Bible  Word-Book,  s.v.     The  Hebrew  in 
Hab.  ii.  7  means  '  to  shake  to  and  fro  or  strong-ly.' 


33^ 


THE   MINOR   PROPHETS 


'  Assyria,'    apparently  =  Syria, 

231,  250. 
Assyrians,    character   of    their 

empire,  8  f ,  13. 
Azel,  Zech.  xiv.  5. 

Baal,  112. 

Babylon,  Israelites  to  flee  from, 

191  ;  sin  to  be  banished  there, 

208. 
Rashan,  Nah,  i.  4,  Zech.  xi.  2. 
bastard,   to   dwell   in   Ashdod, 

238. 
Benjamin  gate,  Zech.  xiv.  10. 
blasting,  167. 
Booths,  pilgrimage  of,  279  f. 

Canaan,  of  Philistines,  124 ; 
people  of,  or  Canaanites  (as 
merchants),  117,  256  and  258 
(Heb.),  282. 

candlestick,  golden,  seen  in 
vision,  199,  204. 

Carmel,  Nah.  i.  4. 

Chaldaeans,  rise  of,  68  ;  growth 
of  empire,  52  f.,  57  ;  character 
of,  67  flf.,  76,  77-84. 

Chemarim,  113  (Zeph.  i.  4). 

Cherethites,  Zeph.  ii.  5,  6  (note). 

Chief  Musician,  the,  99. 

Chislev  (month),  216. 

Christ,  birth  of,  supposed  pre- 
diction of,  87. 

corner  gate,  the,  Zech.  xiv.  10. 

covenant :  in  fig.  applications, 
257  ;  with  the  tribe  of  Levi, 
Mai.  ii.  4,  5,  8.  See  under 
Words  and  Expressions. 

curse  (ban),  277  f,,  329. 

curses,  supposed  force  of,  206. 

Cushan,  Hab,  iii.  7. 

Damascus,  Zech.  ix.  i, 

David,  house  of,  233,  Zech.  xii. 
7,  8,  10,  12,  xiii.  I. 

Diaspora  (or  Jews  in  dis- 
persion), promised  return  of 


the,  221  f.,  223f.,   241,   242. 

248-50. 
'  Dies  irae '  (hymn),  119. 
divorce,  frequency  of,  in  Judah, 

297,     312 ;     condemned    by 

Malachi,  315-17. 

eagle  (properly  great  vulture), 
69  f ,  80. 

Edom,  299-301. 

Egypt,  39-41  ;  invaded  by 
Asshurbanipal,  6 ;  Israelites 
exiled  in,  250  ;  no  rain  in, 
280.     See  Ptolemies. 

Ekron,  Zeph.  ii.  4,  Zech.  ix.  5. 

Elam,  conquered  by  Asshur- 
banipal, 7. 

Elijah,  328,  329. 

Elkosh,  3,  4. 

ephah,  207. 

Ephraim,  23of.;  future  restora- 
tion of,  241,  242,  248-50. 

Esarhaddon,  5. 

Esau,  299,  300. 

Ethiopia  (Kush),  Nah.  iii.  9, 
Zeph.  ii.  12,  iii.  10. 

exiles,  return  from  Babylon, 
145  f.,  288 ;  condition  of, 
after  return,  148-151. 

eyes  of  Yahweh,  202,  204. 

Ezra,  285,  287  ff. 

fasts,  216  f.,  225. 

first  person  singular,  of  people, 

86,  94,  98. 
fish  gate,  Zeph.  i.  10. 
flying  roll,  205  f. 

gate,  the  first,  Zech.  xiv.  10. 
Gaza,  Zeph.  ii.  4,  Zech  ix.  5. 
Geba,  Zech.  xiv.  10. 
Gilead,  Zech.  x.  10. 
Greeks,  230,  243. 

Habakkuk,  legends  about,  49  f. 
Hadadrimmon,  Zech.  xii.  11. 


INDEX 


333 


I  Hadrach,  Zech.  ix.  i. 
Hamath,  Zech.  ix.  2. 
Hananel,towerof,Zech.  xiv.  10. 
head  stone,  201. 
high  priest,  the,  194,  213,  214. 
holy  land,  the,  Zech.  ii.  12. 
Horeb,  Mai.  iv.  4. 
host  of  heaven,  worship  of,  1 13. 
Huzzab,  Nah.  ii.  7. 

ideal  future  (or  the  kingdom 
of  God),  characteristics  of: 
general,  io6,  108,  151  f.,  180, 
235 ;  inaugurated  by  over- 
throw of  hostile  powers,  161, 
i68f.,  209;  victory  of  Jews 
over  the  Greeks,  243-5  5 
felicity  of  J  udah,  124  f.,  136  f., 
138  ff.,  151,  163,  180,  198  f., 
220-3,  245>  274-8,  323^-5  325- 
7  ;  removal  of  sin,  198,  207  f., 
268  f.,  of  sinners,  205  f.  ; 
Messianic  ruler,  169,  211-13  ; 
Messiah,  227,  240-2;  Mes- 
sianic kingdom,  227  f.,  236, 
240-2  ;  glory  of  Temple,  159, 
162,  215 ;  Yahweh  to  dwell 
in  Zion,  188,  193,  220 ;  ex- 
pansion of  Jerusalem,  190  ; 
elevation  of  Jerusalem,  276-8 ; 
holiness  of  Jerusalem,  281  f. ; 
of  Israel,  320 ;  Ephraim  (the 
Northern  tribes)  to  be  re- 
stored, 223  f.,  241,  242,  248- 
50 ;  homage  of  nations,  127, 
134  f.,  162,  225  f.,  279  f.  ; 
many  nations  to  join  Israel, 
193  ;  nations  to  observe  the 
Feast  of  Booths,  279  f.,  mono- 
theism to  prevail,  276.  Cf. 
'  judgement '  and  '  remnant.* 

idols,  84,  85. 

interest,  allusion  to,  78,  79. 

jackals,  301. 

Javan  (Greeks),  Zech.  ix,  13 
marg. 


Jebusite,  Zech.  ix.  7. 

Jerusalem,  to  be  rebuilt,  188  ; 
to  have  no  walls,  190  ;  to  be 
elevated  and  a  goal  for  the 
nations'  pilgrimages,  276  f, 
279-81  :  to  be  holy,  281. 

Joseph,  house  of,  230,  Zech.  x. 
6  and  note. 

Joshua  (the  high-priest),  154  f., 
194  ff.,  211-15. 

J  udah,  probably  subject  to 
Assyria  under  Asshurbani pal, 
14,24,330;  opposed  to  Jeru- 
salem, 259,  262,  263,  278. 

judgement  on  the  heathen 
world,  106,  iiiff.,  123  ff., 
134,  188  f.,  191,  192  f.,  193; 
on  Babylon,  211  ;  on  Judah, 
106,  112  ff.,  318-ai,  326 f. 

Kimchi,  David,  25,  34,  83,  166. 
kingdom    of    God :    see    '  ideal 

future.' 
king's  wine-vats,  the,  Zech.  xiv. 

10. 
Kush,  Nah.  iii.  9,  Zeph.  ii.  12, 

iii.  ID  (notes). 

law,  the :  proper  meaning 
'direction,' 66,  163,  219,  310- 

12  ;  of  Deut.,  292,  310,  328  ; 
*  Law  of  Holiness, '302, 307  f.; 
of  Priestly  Code,  292,  310; 
neglected  by  priests,  132, 
301  ff.,  308-12. 

leading  classes,  sins  of  the, 
106,  115  f.,  131  f.,  294. 

Lebanon,  Nah.  i.  4,  Hab.  ii.  17, 
Zech.  x.  10,  xi.  i. 

Levi,  the  house  of,  Zech.  xii. 

13  ;  the  covenant  with,  Mai. 
ii.  4, 8  ;  the  sons  of,  Mai.  iii.  3. 

'  Levite,'  different  sense  of,  in 

Deut.  and  in  P,  310. 
locusts,  43,  44,  45,  323. 
love  of  Israel,  Yahweh's,  299. 
Lubim,  Nah.  iii.  9. 


334 


THE   MINOR   PROPHETS 


Maktesli,  the.  Zeph.  i.  ii. 
Malcam,  Zeph.  i.  5. 
mantelet.  31. 
mantle,  hairy,  ^69  f. 
Mcgiddon.  Zcch.  xii.  n. 
Messiah,    Messianic,    note    on 

terras,  330. 
Messianic  king,  169,  198,  211- 

13,  227,  240-2. 
—  kingdom,  159,  168 f.,  227  f.. 

236,240-2.  Cf.  Mdeal  future.' 
Midian,  Hab.  iii.  7. 
Milcom,  iisf. 
mildew,  167. 
Moab,  Zeph.  ii.  8,  9. 
Molech,  114.  1 

monotheism   of  world,   future,    j 

276.  j 

nations,  overthrow  of,  161, 168  f. .    | 
209,  cf.  243-5  ;  judgement  on.    \ 
see  'judgement  * :  ideal  attack 
of  on  Jerusalem  in  the  future, 
261,    273  f,;    destruction    of 
nations  engaged  in  it,  261-4,    ; 
278  f. ;    favourable   view   of,    : 
305  ;  to  do  homage  to  Yah- 
weh  in  the  future,  127,  134  f., 
162,  193,  225,  276,  279  f. 

Neheraiah,  289  ff.  i 

nettles  (?),  126.  ■ 

New  Testament,  quotations  in.  j 
63  f.  and  77  «.  (Hab. 'ii.  4^  ' 
67  (Hab.  i.  5),  i6rf.  (Hag.ii.  ' 
6),  241  (Zech.  ix.  9,,  259  and 
282  (Zech.  xi.  13),  265,  266  ; 
(Zech.  xii.  10),  271  (Zech.  ' 
xiii.  7),  301  (Mai.  i.  2f.),  319 
(Mai.  iii.  i),  329  (Mai.  iv.  sf.). 

Nile,    39,    40,   050;    the    Blue 
Nile,  136. 

Nineveh,  plan  of,  i6  ;  situation    | 
of,  39  f.;  fall  of,  9-n,  14  f. 
28  ff.,  128-30.  I 

No   (Thebes),  conquest  of,   6,    i 
Nah.  iii.  8-10;   situation  of, 
39'"- 


Olives,  Mount  of.  Zech.  xiv.  4. 

oven,  326. 

owls  in  ruins,  129. 

Paran,  Hab.  iii,  3. 

pardon  of  sin,  in  the  Messianic 

age,  198,  268  f. 
paronomasia,  123. 
participle,  of  imminent  future, 

318  (with  references), 
past  tense,  of  future,  243,  312. 
Patristic     interpretations,    87, 

306,  327. 
pelican,  129. 
personification,  24,  138. 
Philistines,  123,  238,  239. 
pilgrimages,  140  «.,  309. 
pledges,  79. 
porcupine,  129. 
priests,  lax,  132,  293  f,,  Mai.  i. 

6_ii.  9,  iii.  3. 
prophetic  ideals,  relation  to  ful- 
filment, 151  f.,  159,  161,  235, 

241,  319- 
'prophetic'     perfect,    82,    86, 

115,  138,  247. 
prophets,  unworthy,  132,  269. 

270. 
Ptolemies,  the,  231  f.,  253. 
Put,  Nah.  iii.  9;  Zeph.  iii.  10 

(note). 

raven,  129. 

refining,  272 ;  process  described, 
319  f- 

remnant,  of  the  returned  exiles. 
158,  221,  223;  of  the  faithful 
Israelites  who  survive  the 
coming  judgement,  106,  125, 
136  f.,  295. 

Revelation,  the,  203  «.,  266  tt. 

Rimmon,  Zech.  xiv.  10. 

River,  the  (the  Euphrates),  242. 

saltpits,  126. 
Satan,  the,  194  f. 


INDEX 


335 


Scythians,     irruption    of,    into 

Asia,  94,  115,  119. 
scah  (a  measure),  166. 
Selcucidae,  the,  231  f.,  253  1. 
Sennacherib,  4,  23. 
Sharezer,  Zech.  vii.  2. 
Shebat  (month),  184. 
Shigionoth,  86. 
signet,  169. 
sirocco,  20,  167. 
Smith,  W.  R.,  on  Zeph.,  108. 
soap,  fullers',  319. 
sorcerers,  Mai.  iii.  5. 
spirit,  Yahweh's,  161,  200,  219. 
spiritual  worship,  delighted  in 

by  God,  217,  297. 
stork,  208. 

Teman,  Hab.  iii.  3. 

Temple,  the  Second,  foundation 
of,  146-8,  222  ;  rebuilding  of, 
151,  i55ffji79f.j  188,  200  f., 
213  f. 

tcraphim,  246. 

threshing,  93. 

thunder-storm,  Yah  vveh  pictured 
as  present  in,  19,  20,  87  ; 
effects  of,  20,  89,  91,  92,  100: 
described    by    Hab.,    87  ff.  ; 


descrijjtion  of  one  in  the 
Sinaitic  Peninsula,  100. 

tikkiin  aophcriiii.  71,  cf.  307. 

tithes,  321  f.,  323, 

trumpet  (horn),  iigf. 

Tyre,  Zech.  ix.  2,  3 ;  siege  of. 
by  Alexander,  237. 

Umman-manda.  the.  10. 

vine,  fig.  of  Israel,  29. 

vision,  prophetic,  17,  75,  1761. 

vows,  25,  307  f. 

wine,  new  {tirosh),  157,  245. 
wine-presses,  wine-vats,   166  f. 
wolves,  69,  131. 

Yahweh,  honoured  among  the 
Gentiles,  Mai.  i.  1 1  ;  Israel's 
father,  Mai.  ii.  10. 

yoke,  24. 

Zechariah,  symbolism  of,  179. 

Zephaniah,  follows  the  teaching 
of  Isaiah,  106-8. 

Zerubbabel,  154,  199  ft'..  211  ft". ; 
Messianicaspirationsattachcd 
to.  151,  168  f.,  198,  21 1- 15. 

Zidon,  Zech.  ix.  2. 


Words  and  Expressions  explaitied. 


accept,acccptance;^ofsacrifices), 

303,  3^5- 
accept  persons,  to,  303. 
anointed,  thine,  93. 
answer,  peculiar  use  of,  186. 
appointed  feast,  139  f. 
arm,  fig,  of  authority,  309. 
arrows,  fig.  of  lightnings,  92. 

ban,  277  f. 
Belial,  23,  25. 
bones  (in  poetry),  96. 
bowls  (at  altar),  244.  281. 
Branch  (rather,  Shoot),  197, 212, 
213. 


bread  (of  sacrificial  flesh),  302. 

broad  places,  31,221, 

burden  (in  title  of  prophecy),  17, 

charge,  to  keep  my,  196,  324, 

chieftain ,'  =  clan-chief),  239,263. 

corner,  fig.  use  of,  248. 

correction  {nnisar),  131. 

covenant :  blood  of  thy,  Zech. 
ix.  II ;  of  the  fathers,  Mai.  ii. 
10 ;  wife  of  thy,  ii.  14  ;  mes- 
senger of  the,  iii.  i. 

cup  of  Yahweh,  83. 

curse,  to  be  a,  223. 

curtains  (of  tent;,  90. 


336 


THE   MINOR   PROPHETS 


daughter,  fig.  of  population,  135, 

138.  191  f.,  240. 
day  ofYahweh,  106, 114  f.,  i  i8f., 

a73>  319,  326. 
detestable  things,  38,  239. 
drunkenness,  fig.  application  of 

the  idea,  41  f.,  82,  83,  261  f. 

eastern  sea,  the,  276. 

faithfulness,  63  f. ,  76  f. 
feast  (^pilgrimage),  140 «. 
feed  (graze),  fig.  of  men,  137  f. 
flock,  see  sheep, 
former  (autumn)  rain,  246. 

gate  (as  place  ofjudgement),  224. 
gazingstock,  38. 
governor  {pehdh)^  154. 

hammer  (fig.  of  destroying  foe) , 

28. 
heart :  as  seat  of  courage,  34 ;  ~ 

attention,  155. 
high  places  (of  a  land),  98  f. 
hiss,  to  :  in  scorn,  130  ;  fig.  for 

call,  130. 
Holy  One,  mine,  71 ;  the,  88. 
holy  ones  (  =  angels),  274. 
homestead,  124. 

I  am  against  thee,  35. 
impurity  {nidddh),  268  f.' 
inhabitress  (fig.  of  population), 

191. 
iniquity  {'dven),  65. 
isles,  127  f. 

jealous,  jealousy,  of  Yahweh, 

18,   120  f.,   187,  230. 

judgement:  =  right,  66,  68;  = 
ordinance,  122,  328. 

king's  sonsj  the,  1 16. 

languages  (  =  peoples),  226. 
latter  (spring)  rain,  246. 


lees,  118. 

lie  down  (as  cattle),  fig.  of  men, 

125,  137- 
living(i.e.  running)  waters,  276. 
lowland,  the,  218. 
lowly,  241. 

marshals,  44. 

meek  (humble),  122,  123,  137 «. 

messenger,  Yahweh's,  Hag.  i. 

13,  Mai.  iii.  i. 
mighty    man,    mighty  one    (a 

warrior),  30,  119,  139,  243, 

248,  249. 
mischief  ('awa/),  66,  72. 
mitre  (turban),  196. 
mourn,  to  :  =  to  moan,  33  ;  i.  e. 

to  wail,  217,  266. 
mournfully    (i.  e.     in     squaHd 

attire),  324. 

Nile  streams,  40. 
north  (country),  the,  128,  191, 
210. 

offering  :  =  minhdk,  136,  304, 
306;  =  ter-iimdhj^sa',  =  korbdn, 
323  w. 

omen,  men  of,  197. 

parable  (false  rendering),  78. 

peculiar  treasure,  326. 

people,  to  be  to  me  a,  193,  222. 

pleasant  land,  the,  220. 

poor  (or  aflflicted  :  of  the  op- 
pressed servants  of  God), 
94  f.,  137,  241. 

pride  of  Jordan,  the,  252. 

proud,  the,  325. 

quiet  one's  spirit,  to,  211. 

rebellious,  130, 
reeling,  bowl  of,  261  f. 
refuge  in,  to  take  (fig.),  21. 
remembrance,  book  of,  325. 
respect  persons,  to,  312. 


INDEX 


337 


rise  early  (in  fig.  sense),  134. 
Rock  (of  Yahweh),  72. 


salvation,  90  f.,  98,  241. 
sanctify  guests  and  warriors,  to, 

115. 
say,  to  (  =  to  think),  133,  134. 
set  feast,  139  f. 
sheep,    fig.    of    people,    137  f., 

140,  245,  255-60,  271  f. 
shepherds,    fig.    of  rulers,    45, 

247,  252-60,  271  f. 
sit,  to,  said  of  a  city,  40,  190, 

218,  238,  263,  277. 
solemn  assembly,  139. 
sons  of  oil,  202  f.,  204. 
soul  (  =  desire,  appetite),  78. 
South,  the,  218. 
spirit,  Yahvveh's,  161,200,219. 
spirit  :=  anger,    211;    impulse, 

265,  269  ;  of  life,  261,  316. 
sprinkle  (properly  'toss'  :  ritual 

term),  244. 
stagger  {or  reel),  to,  83. 
stand  before,  to,  195. 
strange  (  =  foreign),  313  f. 
stranger:  =  outsider,  314  m.  ;  = 


foreigner,  314  n.  ;-  sojourner 
(Heb.  ger),  218,  314  n.,  321. 

teach,  to  (to '  direct '  as  a  priest), 
84,  85.     Cf.  '  law,'  p.  333. 

tent-pin  (fig.),  248. 

thresh,  to  (fig.),  93. 

threshold,  the,  to  leap  over,  116. 

tt'rosh,  157. 

treacherous  dealers,  72,  77. 

treacherously,  to  deal,  313 
(twice). 

under,  idiom,  use  of,  96,  213. 

vengeance,  said  of  Yahweh,  18. 

visit,  to,   125,    247,    260;    visit 

upon  (to  punish),  1 13,  247. 

watchmen    (fig.    of  prophets), 

74,  75- 
weigh,  to  (to  pay),  258. 
western  sea,  the,  276. 
whoredom  (fig.),  37. 
winds  of  heaven,  the  four,  191, 

210. 
winter-rain,  246. 
Woe  (Ah !),  36,  77  flf. 


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